A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 
(The  Gentlemen  Golovliov) 


A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

BY 

MIKHAIL      Y.      SALTYKOV 

(n.  shchedrin) 

translated  by  a.  yarmolinsky 


BONI&LIVERIGHT,      Inc. 

New  York  191 7 


Copyright,  19 1 7,  by 
Boni  &  Liveright,  Inc. 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


I  C^     Ч.-- 


CONTENTS       ^  ^ 

Book  I 

PAGE 

The  Family  Council i 

Book  II 
As  Becomes  Good  Kinsfolk 79 

Book  III 
Family  Accounts  Settled 147 

Book  IV 
The  Good  Little  Niece .215 

Book  V 
Forbidden  Family  Joys 285 

Book  VI 
The  Deserted  Manor-House 327 

Book  VII 
The  Settlement 371 

Г1Я9  1  F;7 


BOOK   I 
THE  FAMILY   COUNCIL 


CHAPTER  I 

Anton  Vasilyev,  the  manager  of  a  remote  estate, 
was  giving  his  mistress,  Arina  Petrovna  Golovliov,  an 
account  of  his  trip  to  Moscow.  He  had  gone  there  to 
collect  the  money  due  from  those  of  her  peasant  serfs 
who  bought  the  right  to  live  in  the  city  by  paying  her 
a  tax.  When  he  had  finished  with  his  report,  she 
told  him  he  might  retire,  but  he  lingered  on  irreso- 
lutely, as  though  he  had  something  else  to  say,  yet 
could  not  make  up  his  mind  to  say  it. 

Arina  Petrovna  knew  her  servants  through  and 
through;  she  knew  the  meaning  of  their  slightest  ges- 
tures, she  could  even  divine  their  inmost  thoughts. 
And  her  steward's  manner  immediately  aroused  her 
disquietude. 

"What  else?"   she   asked,   looking  at  him   keenly. 

"That's  all,"  he  replied  evasively. 

"Don't  lie.  There  is  something  else.  I  can  see  it 
by  your  eyes." 

Anton  Vasilyev  still  hesitated  and  continued  to  shift 
from  one  foot  to  the  other. 

"What  is  it?  Tell  me!"  she  shouted  imperiously. 
"Out  with  it,  out  with  it !  And  don't  wag  your  whole 
body  like  a  dog,  Telltale!" 

Arina  Petrovna  liked  to  call  her  managers  and  do- 
mestics by  nicknames.     She  used  Telltale  for  Anton 

I 


2.  ! :  .;    :  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

Vasilyev,  not  because  she  had  found  him  to  carry  gos- 
sip trcctcherously,  but  simply  because  he  had  a  loose 
tongue. 

The  centre  of  the  estate  that  he  managed  was  an 
important  trading  village  in  which  there  were  many 
taverns.  He  liked  to  take  a  glass  of  tea  in  a  tavern 
and  boast  of  his  mistress's  great  power.  And  in  the 
course  of  his  boasting  he  would  sometimes  uncon- 
sciously blab  out  secrets.  His  mistress  was  always  with 
a  lawsuit  on  her  hands,  so  that  her  trusty's  garrulous- 
ness  sometimes  brought  her  sly  strategems  to  the  sur- 
face before  they  could  be  executed. 

"Yes,  I  have  got  something  else  to  say,"  Anton 
finally  mumbled. 

"What  is  it  ?"  Arina  Petrovna  asked  excitedly. 

An  imperious  woman,  with  an  extraordinarily  lively 
imagination,  she  instantly  pictured  all  sorts  of  dis- 
agreeable opposition  and  antagonism,  and  the  thought 
so  instantly  took  complete  possession  of  her  that  she 
turned  white  and  jumped  up  from  her  chair. 

"Stepan  Vladimirych's  house  in  Moscow  has  been 
sold,"  Anton  said  after  a  pause. 

"Well?" 

"It's  been  sold." 

"Why?    How?    Tell  me." 

"For  debts,  I  suppose.  Of  course  it  can't  be  because 
of  something  nice." 

"The  police,  the  court,  sold  it,  I  suppose?" 

"I  suppose  so.  They  say  it  was  sold  at  auction  for 
8,000  rubles." 

Arina  Petrovna  dropped  back  heavily  into  her  arm- 
chair and  gazed  fixedly  at  the  window  panes.  She  was 
so  stunned  by  the  news  that  she  seemed  to  have  lost 
consciousness  for  a  while.    Had  she  heard  that  Stepan 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  3 

Vladimirych  had  killed  somebody,  or  that  the  Golovliov 
peasant  serfs  had  risen  in  revolt  and  refused  to  render 
the  service  due  her  on  her  estates,  or  that  serfdom  had 
been  abolished,  she  would  not  have  been  so  shocked. 
Her  lips  trembled,  her  eyes  stared  vacantly  into  the 
distance,  but  she  saw  nothing.  She  did  not  even  see 
the  little  girl,  Duniashka,  run  past  the  window  carry- 
ing something  hidden  under  her  apron;  she  did  not 
see  the  child  stop  suddenly  on  beholding  her  mistress 
and  wheel  round  and  then  dart  back  guiltily  to  where 
she  had  come  from.  Such  suspicious  conduct  at  any 
other  time  would  have  led  to  a  thorough  investigation. 
Finally  Arina  Petrovna  came  to  herself  and  managed 
to  bring  out: 

"A  good  joke,  I  must  say."  After  which  there 
again  followed  several  minutes  of  ominous  silence. 

"So  the  police  sold  the  house  for  eight  thousand?" 
she  asked  again. 

"Yes,  madam." 

"So  that's  what  he's  done  with  his  patrimony! 
Splendid !     The  blackguard !" 

Arina  Petrovna  felt  that  the  news  called  for  a 
prompt  decision,  but  nothing  occurred  to  her.  Her 
thoughts  ran  confusedly  in  exactly  opposite  directions. 
On  the  one  hand  she  thought :  "The  police  sold  it.  But 
the  police  could  not  have  sold  it  in  a  minute.  An  in- 
ventory must  first  have  been  taken,  then  an  appraisal 
made,  and  then  the  sale  must  have  been  advertised. 
Sold  for  eight  thousand  when  I  myself  two  years 
ago  paid  twelve  thousand  rubles  for  it,  not  a  penny 
less.  Had  I  only  known  it  was  going  to  be  up  for  sale, 
I  could  have  bought  it  myself  for  eight  thousand 
rubles." 

Her  other  thoughts  ran :    "The  police  sold  it   for 


4  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

eight  thousand.  Thafs  what  he's  done  with  his  pat- 
rimony. To  sell  one's  patrimony  for  eight  thousand 
rubles !" 

"Who  told  you?"  she  asked,  realizing  finally  that 
the  house  had  been  sold  and  the  chance  to  secure  it 
cheaply  was  gone  forever. 

"Ivan  Mikhailov,  the  inn-keeper." 

"Why  didn't  he  let  me  know  in  time  ?" 

"I  suppose  he  was  afraid." 

"Afraid  ?  I'll  teach  him  to  be  afraid.  I'll  make  him 
come  here  from  Moscow,  and  the  moment  he  comes 
I'll  have  him  drafted  into  the  army.     He  Avas  afraid !" 

Although  on  the  decline,  serfdom  still  existed. 
Anton  Vasilyev  had  known  his  mistress  to  impose  the 
most  peculiar  punishments,  but,  even  so,  her  present 
decision  was  so  unexpected  that  it  made  him  miser- 
able. He  thought  of  his  nickname  Telltale.  Ivan  Mik- 
hailov was  an  upright  peasant,  and  Anton  never 
dreamed  that  misfortune  would  touch  him.  Besides, 
Ivan  Mikhailov  was  his  friend  and  godfather.  Now, 
all  of  a  sudden,  he  was  to  be  made  a  soldier  just  be- 
cause he,  Anton  Vasilyev,  the  Telltale,  could  not  hold 
his  tongue. 

"Forgive  him — Ivan  Mikhailov,  I  mean,"  he  pleaded. 

"Go  away,  you  mollycoddler,"  she  shouted  in  a 
voice  so  loud  that  he  lost  all  desire  to  intercede  any 
further  for  his  friend. 


CHAPTER  II 

Arina  Petrovna  was  sixty  years  old,  still  of  sound 
health  and  accustomed  to  have  her  own  way  in  every- 
thing. Her  manner  was  severe.  She  lived  alone,  and 
managed  the  huge  Golovliov  estate  all  by  herself,  with- 
out having  to  answer  to  any  one  else.  She  calculated 
closely,  almost  parsimoniously,  was  not  intimate  with 
her  neighbors,  was  gracious  to  the  local  authorities,  and 
exacted  implicit  obedience  from  her  children.  They 
were  not  to  do  anything  without  first  asking  them- 
selves, "What  would  mamenka  say  about  it?"  She 
was  independent,  inflexible,  even  stubborn,  though  her 
stubbornness  was  not  so  much  native  as  due  chiefly  to 
the  circumstance  that  there  was  not  one  person  in  the 
whole  Golovliov  family  that  could  oppose  her.  Her 
husband  was  a  trifling  creature,  and  drank.  Arina 
Petrovna  used  to  say  of  herself  that  she  was  neither  a 
widow  nor  a  married  woman.  Some  of  the  children 
were  in  St.  Petersburg,  the  others  took  after  their 
father  and  were  relegated  to  the  class  of  "horrid  crea- 
tures," who  were  unfit  for  household  duties.  In  these 
circumstances  Arina  Petrovna  soon  began  to  feel  all 
left  alone,  and  grew  totally  disaccustomed  to  family 
life,  although  the  word  "family"  was  constantly  on  her 
lips,  and  outwardly  she  seemed  to  be  exclusively 
guided  in  all  her  work  by  the  desire  to  build  up  the 
family  estate  and  keep  the  family  affairs  in  order. 

5 


6  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

The  head  of  the  family,  Vladimir  Mikhailych  Golov- 
liov,  was  known  from  his  youth  as  a  dissolute,  quar- 
relsome fellow,  with  nothing  in  his  character  that 
would  be  synipathetic  to  a  serious,  active  woman  like 
Arina  Petrovna.  He  led  a  lazy,  good-for-nothing  ex- 
istence, usually  stayed  locked  up  in  his  room,  where  he 
/  imitated  the  warble  of  the  starlings,  the  crowing  of 
,  cocks,  and  the  like,  and  composed  ribald  doggerel. 
In  bursts  of  confidence  he  would  boast  that  he  had 
been  a  friend  of  the  poet  Barkov,  intimating  that  the 
poet  had  blessed  him  on  his  deathbed.  Arina  Petrovna 
disliked  her  husband's  verses  from  the  very  first. 
"Nasty  stuff!"  "Trash!"  she  called  them.  And  since 
Vladimir  Mikhailych's  very  object  in  marrying  had 
been  to  have  someone  ever  at  hand  to  listen  to  his 
poetry,  the  result  was  that  quarrels  soon  began,  which 
grew  worse  and  worse  and  more  frequent  until  they 
ended  with  Arina  Petrovna  utterly  indifferent  and  con- 
temptuous of  her  clown  husband,  and  Vladimir  Mik- 
hailych hating  his  wife  sincerely,  with  a  hatred  con- 
siderably mixed  with  fear.  The  husband  called  the 
wife  a  "hag"  and  a  "devil";  the  wife  called  the 
husband  a  "windmill"  and  a  "balalaika  without 
strings." 

They  lived  together  in  this  way  for  more  than  forty 
yesLTs,  and  it  never  occurred  to  either  of  them  that 
there  was  anything  unnatural  in  such  a  life.  Time  did 
not  diminish  Vladimir  Mikhailych's  quarrelsomeness; 
on  the  contrary,  it  took  on  a  still  sharper  edge.  Apart 
from  the  poetical  exercising  in  Barkov's  spirit  that  he 
did,  he  began  to  drink  and  to  lie  in  wait  eagerly  for 
the  servant  girls  in  the  corridors.  At  first  Arina 
Petrovna  looked  on  this  new  occupation  of  her  hus- 
band's with  repugnance.     She  even  got  wrought  up 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  7 

over  it,  not  so  much  from  jealousy  as  that  she  felt  it 
to  be  an  interference  with  her  authority.  After  a 
while,  however,  she  shrugged  her  shoulders,  and 
merely  watched  out  that  the  ''dirty  wenches"  should 
not  fetch  brandy  for  their  master. 

From  that  time  on,  having  said  to  herself  once  for 
all  that  her  husband  was  not  a  companion,  she  directed 
her  efforts  exclusively  to  one  object,  the  building  up 
of  the  estate.  And  in  the  forty  years  of  her  married 
life  she  actually  succeeded  in  multiplying  her  property 
tenfold.  With  astonishing  patience  and  acumen  she 
kept  her  eye  on  the  near  and  distant  villages,  found 
out  in  secret  ways  the  relations  that  existed  between 
the  neighboring  landowners  and  the  board  of  trustees, 
and  always  appeared  at  the  auctions  like  snow  on  the 
head.  In  this  fantastic  hunt  for  new  acquisitions 
Vladimir  Mikhailych  receded  more  and  more  into  the 
background,  turned  seedy  and  at  last  dropped  out  of 
social  life  completely.  He  was  now  a  decrepit  old  man 
already,  keeping  his  bed  almost  the  whole  time.  On  the 
rare  occasions  that  he  left  his  room  it  was  only  to  stick 
his  head  through  the  half-open  door  of  his  wife's  bed- 
room and  shout:  "Devil!"  After  which  he  would  go 
back  and  close  himself  up  in  his  own  room  again. 

Arina  Petrovna  was  not  much  happier  in  her  chil- 
dren. She  was  of  a  celibate  nature,  so  to  speak,  inde- 
pendent and  self-sufficient,  and  her  children  were  noth- 
ing to  her  but  a  useless  burden.  The  only  times  when 
she  breathed  freely  was  w^hen  she  was  alone  with  her 
accounts  and  her  household  affairs,  and  when  no  one 
interfered  with  her  business  talks  with  her  managers, 
stewards,  housekeepers,  and  so  on.  In  her  eyes,  chil- 
dren were  one  of  the  preordained  things  in  life  that 
she  felt  she  had  no  right  to  protest  against.     Never- 


.8  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

theless  they  did  not  touch  a  single  chord  in  her  inner 
being,  which  was  given  over  wholly  to  the  numberless 
details  of  the  household. 

There  were  four  children,  one  daughter  and  three 
sons.  Of  the  oldest  son  and  the  daughter  she  did  not 
even  like  to  speak;  toward  the  youngest  son  she  was 
indifferent.  It  was  only  for  the  middle  one,  Porfisha, 
that  she  cherished  any  feeling  at  all,  a  feeling  not  of 
love,  but  of  something  very  akin  to  fear. 

Stepan  Vladimirych,  the  oldest  son,  passed  in  the 
family  by  the  name  of  Simple  Simon,  or  The  Sauce- 
box. He  was  very  young  when  he  was  put  into  the 
class  of  "horrid  creatures,"  and  from  childhood  up 
played  the  role  of  half  pariah,  half  clown.  Unfortu- 
nately he  was  a  bright  child,  susceptible  to  the  impres- 
sions of  his  environment.  From  his  father  he  inheri- 
ted an  irresistible  inclination  to  play  tricks,  from  his 
mother  the  ability  to  divine  the  weak  sides  of  people's 
natures.  The  first  characteristic  soon  made  him  his 
father's  favorite,  which  still  further  intensified  his 
mother's  dislike  of  him.  Often  when  the  mother  was 
absent  on  business,  the  father  and  the  boy  would  be- 
take themselves  into  the  study  adorned  with  the  por- 
trait of  Barkov,  read  ribald  poems,  and  gossip, 
the  chief  butt  of  their  raillery  being  the  "hag," 
that  is  to  say,  Arina  Petrovna.  The  "hag,"  in- 
stinctively divining  their  occupation,  would  drive  up 
to  the  front  steps  very  quietly,  then  tiptoe  to  the  study 
door  and  listen  to  their  fun-making.  The  murderous 
punishment  of  Simple  Simon  followed  swift  and  cruel. 
But  Stiopka  was  not  subdued.  He  was  impervious 
either  to  blows  or  to  admonitions,  and  in  half  an  hour 
was  back  again  at  his  tricks.  He  would  cut 
tip  Aniutka's,  the  servant  girl's,  scarf,  or  he  would 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  9 

stick  flies  into  Vasiutka's  mouth  while  he  slept,  or  he 
would  run  into  the  kitchen  and  carry  off  a  cake  (Arina 
Petrovna  kept  her  children  half  hungry),  which  he 
always  divided  with  his  brothers. 

"You  ought  to  be  killed,"  his  mother  said.  "I'll 
kill  you,  and  I  won't  have  to  answer  for  it  either. 
Even  God  won't  punish  me  for  it." 

This  humiliation,  constantly  put  upon  a  nature  soft, 
yielding  and  forgetful,  did  not  remain  without  its 
effect.  It  did  not  embitter  him,  nor  did  it  make  him 
rebellious.  It  made  him  servile,  disposed  to  buffoon- 
ery, with  no  sense  of  the  fitness  of  things,  and  devoid 
of  all  foresight  and  prudence.  Such  natures  yield  to 
all  influences  and  may  become  almost  anything — 
drunkards,  beggars,  buffoons,  even  criminals. 

At  the  age  of  twenty  Stepan  Golovliov  graduated 
from  the  gymnasium  in  Moscow  and  entered  the  uni- 
versity. But  his  student's  life  was  a  bitter  one.  In 
the  first  place,  his  mother  gave  him  just  enough  money 
to  keep  him  from  dying  of  hunger.  Secondly,  he  did 
not  show  the  least  inclination  to  work.  Instead,  he 
developed  an  accursed  talent,  which  expressed  itself 
chiefly  in  mimickry.  And  he  suffered  from  a  desire 
for  constant  companionship.  He  hated  to  be  alone  a 
single  instant.  So  he  played  the  light  role  of  hanger- 
on  and  parasite,  and  thanks  to  his  readiness  for 
any  prank  he  soon  became  the  favorite  of  the 
rich  students.  However,  though  they  received  him 
into  their  society,  they  looked  on  him,  not  as  one  of 
them,  but  as  a  clown ;  and  the  reputation  clung  to  him. 
Once  placed  on  such  a  plane,  he  naturally  slid  down 
lower  and  lower,  and  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  year 
was  thoroughly  confirmed  in  his  clownship.  Never- 
theless, thanks  to  his  receptive  ability  and  good  me- 


lo  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

mory,  he  passed  the  examinations  successfully  and 
received  his  bachelor's  degree. 

When  he  appeared  before  his  mother  with  the  dip- 
loma, she  merely  shrugged  her  shoulders  and  said: 
''Well,  that's  funny."  Then,  after  letting  him  spend 
a  month  in  the  country,  she  shipped  him  back  to  St. 
Petersburg  with  an  allowance  of  a  hundred  rubles  a 
month.  Now  there  began  for  him  endless  visits  to 
various  government  offices.  He  had  neither  patrons 
nor  the  determination  to  make  his  own  way  by  hard 
work.  The  lad's  mind  had  lost  so  completely  the 
habit  of  concentration  that  bureaucratic  tasks  such  as 
the  drawing  up  of  briefs  and  case  abstracts  were  be- 
yond his  power.  After  four  years  of  struggle  Stepan 
was  forced  to  admit  that  there  was  no  hope  of  his 
ever  rising  above  the  rank  of  a  government  clerk.  In 
reply  to  his  lamentations,  Arina  Petrovna  wrote  him 
a  stern  letter  \vhich  began  with  the  words :  "I  was 
sure  that  would  happen,"  and  wound  up  with  a  com- 
mand to  return  at  once  to  Moscow.  There,  at  the 
conclave  of  Arina  Petrovna's  favorite  peasants,  it  was 
decided  to  place  Simple  Simon  in  the  Aulic  Court, 
entrusting  him  to  the  care  of  a  pettifogger  who  from 
time  immemorial  had  been  the  legal  adviser  of  the 
Golovliov  family. 

What  Stepan  Vladimirych  did  in  the  Aulic  Court 
and  how  he  behaved  there  is  a  mystery.  What  is  cer- 
tain is  that  at  the  end  of  the  third  year  he  was  there 
no  longer.  Then  Arina  Petrovna  took  a  heroic  meas- 
use.  She  "threw  her  son  a  bone,"  which  was  also  sup- 
posed to  fill  the  part  of  the  "parental  blessing,"  that  is 
to  say,  the  patrimony.  "The  bone"  consisted  of  a 
house  in  Moscow,  for  which  she  had  paid  twelve 
thousand  rubles. 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  ii 

For  che  first  time  in  his  life  Stepan  Golovliov 
breathed  freely.  The  house  promised  to  bring  him 
an  income  of  a  thousand  silver  rubles,  a  sum  which 
in  comparison  with  his  former  income,  seemed  like 
genuine  prosperity.  He  kissed  his  mamma's  hand 
effusively,  and  promised  to  justify  her  kindness, 
whereupon  Arina  Petrovna  said :  'That's  better ; 
but  mind  you,  you  numskull,  that's  all  you  get 
from  me!"  But,  alas!  so  Httle  was  he  used  to  han- 
dling money,  so  absurd  was  his  estimation  of  real  val- 
ues in  life,  that  before  long  what  he  thought  to  be  a 
fabulous  revenue  proved  insufficient.  In  five  or  six 
years  he  was  totally  ruined,  and  was  only  too  glad  to 
enter  the  militia,  which  was  then  being  organized.  No 
sooner,  however,  did  the  militia  troops  reach  Kharkov 
than  peace  was  concluded,  and  Golovliov  went  back  to 
Moscow,  dressed  in  a  somewhat  threadbare  uniform 
and  high  boots.  By  this  time  his  house  had  already 
been  sold,  and  the  only  thing  he  owned  луаз  a  hundred 
rubles.  He  began  "speculating"  with  this  capital, 
that  is,  he  tried  his  luck  at  cards,  but  in  a  short 
time  he  lost  all  he  had.  Then  he  conceived  the  plan 
of  visiting  his  mother's  well-to-do  peasants  who  lived 
in  Moscow.  Some  of  them  invited  him  to  dinner, 
others,  yielding  to  his  importunings,  gave  him  tobacco 
or  lent  him  small  sums  of  money.  At  last  the  hour 
came  when  he  found  himself  before  a  blind  wall,  as 
it  were.  He  was  already  almost  forty  years  old,  and 
had  to  confess  to  himself  that  his  nomadic  existence 
was  too  much  for  his  strength.  There  was  only  one 
thing  left  to  him,  to  take  the  road  leading  to 
Golovliovo. 

After  Stepan  Vladimirych,  the  oldest  child,  came 
Anna   Vladimirovna,    about    whom   Arina    Petrovna 


12  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

did  not  like  to  speak  either.  The  truth  of  the 
matter  was,  the  old  lady  had  placed  definite  ex- 
pectations in  Annushka,  but  she,  far  from  ful- 
filling her  mother's  hopes,  had  perpetrated  a  scandal 
which  set  the  whole  district  agog.  When  Annushka 
left  the  girls'  boarding-school,  Arina  Petrovna  in- 
stalled her  at  the  village,  hoping  to  make  of  her  a 
sort  of  unpaid  private  secretary  and  bookkeeper,  but 
instead  Annushka  eloped  one  fine  night  with  cornet 
Ulanov  and  married  him. 

"They  have  married  like  dogs,  without  a  parent's 
blessing!"  complained  Arina  Petrovna.  "Lucky, 
though,  that  he  submitted  to  a  wedding  ceremony  at 
all.  Another  man  would  have  taken  advantage  of 
her — and  vanished  into  thin  air.  A  fine  chance  for 
catching  a  bird." 

With  her  daughter  Arina  Petrovna  dealt  as  peremp- 
torily as  she  had  with  her  hated  son.  She  bestowed 
"a  bone"  upon  her  too,  in  the  shape  of  five  thousand 
rubles  and  a  wretched  little  village  of  thirty  souls  and 
a  manor-house  going  with  it,  so  dilapidated  that  the 
wind  blew  through  the  gaping  paneless  windows  and 
there  was  not  one  sound  board  in  the  flooring.  In  two 
years  the  young  couple  had  gone  through  the  money, 
and  the  cornet  took  himself  off,  deserting  his  wife  and 
two  twin  girls,  Anninka  and  Lubinka.  Three  months 
later  the  mother  died,  and  Arina  Petrovna,  willy-nilly, 
had  to  take  the  little  orphans  into  her  own  house. 
She  installed  them  in  a  side-wing  and  entrusted  them 
to  the  care  of  Palashka,  old  and  one-eyed.  "The 
Lord's  mercy  is  great,"  remarked  Arina  Petrovna. 
^'The  little  orphans  won't  eat  much  of  my  bread,  but 
they'll  be  a  solace  to  me  in  my  old  age.  God  has 
given  me  two  daughters  instead  of  one."     At  the  same 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  13 

time  she  wrote  to  her  son,  Porfiry  Vladimirych :  "Your 
dear  sister  died  as  she  Hved,  indecently,  and  now  her 
two  children  are  hanging  round  my  neck." 

What  we  are  going  to  say  may  seem  cynical, 
but  we  feel  it  our  duty  to  state  that  the  granting  of 
the  heritage  to  Stepan  and  Anna  did  not  by  any  means 
impair  Arina  Petrovna's  financial  condition.  On  the 
contrary,  in  reducing  the  number  of  shareholders  it 
contributed  indirectly  to  the  rounding  out  of  the  fam- 
ily estate.  For  Arina  PetroAma  was  a  woman  of 
strict  principles,  and  once  having  ''thrown  them  a 
bone,"  she  considered  her  obligations  toward  her  un- 
loved children  completely  and  definitely  settled.  In 
regard  to  her  grandchildren  it  never  entered  her  mind 
that  in  due  time  she  would  have  to  part  with  some- 
thing for  them.  All  she  cared  for  w^as  to  draw  all 
the  income  possible  from  the  small  estate  of  her  de- 
ceased daughter  and  deposit  it  in  the  Chamber  of  Trus- 
tees. "There  I  am,"  she  would  say,  "laying  by  money 
for  the  orphans.  For  feeding  and  bringing  them  up 
I  take  nothing  from  them.  For  the  bread  they  eat 
it  is  God  who  will  pay  me." 

As  for  the  younger  children,  Porfiry  and  Pavel,  they 
served  in  St.  Petersburg,  the  former  in  a  civil  capacity, 
the  latter  in  the  army.  Porfiry  was  married ;  Pavel 
was  an  old  bachelor. 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  known  in  the  family  by 
three  nicknames,  Yudushka  (diminutive  of  Judas), 
Bloodsucker,  and  Goody-goody  Boy,  which  had  been 
invented  by  Simple  Simon.  From  his  early  childhood 
Porfiry  had  been  oddly  intent  upon  currying  favor  with 
his  "dear  mamma"  and  showed  a  tendency  to  play  the 
sycophant.  He  would  open  the  door  of  his  mother's 
room  softly,  creep  noiselessly  into  a  corner,  and  sit 


14  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

there,  as  if  entranced,  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  his  mother 
while  she  wrote  or  busied  herself  with  accounts.  Even 
in  those  days  Arina  Petrovna  regarded  her  son's  ef- 
forts to  insinuate  himself  into  her  good  graces  with 
vague  suspicion.  His  stare  puzzled  her.  She  could  not 
decide  what  his  eyes  expressed,  whether  venom  or  filial 
reverence.  "I  cannot  make  out  what  is  in  his  eyes," 
she  sometimes  argued  with  herself.  "His  glance  is  like 
a  noose  which  he  is  getting  ready  to  throw.  He  might 
look  like  that  handing  a  person  poison  or  enticing  him 
into  a  pitfall." 

In  this  connection  she  often  recollected  highly  sig- 
nificant details  of  the  time  she  was  carrying  Porfisha. 
An  old  man  called  Porfisha  the  Saint  was  at  that  time 
living  in  the  manor.  He  had  the  reputation  of  a 
seer,  and  Arina  Petrovna  turned  to  him  whenever 
she  wanted  to  learn  something  about  the  future.  She 
had  asked  him  when  she  would  be  delivered  of  the 
child  and  whether  it  would  be  a  boy  or  a  girl ;  but  the 
pious  old  man  gave  no  direct  answer.  Instead  he 
crowed  three  times  like  a  cock  and  then  mumbled : 

''Cockerel,  cockerel,  sharp  claw !  The  cock  crows 
and  threatens  the  brood-hen ;  the  brood-hen — cluck ! 
cluck ! — but  it  \vill  be  too  late !" 

That  was  all  he  said.  Three  days  later  (the  seer 
crowed  three  times!)  Arina  Petrovna  gave  birth  to  a 
son  ("cockerel!  cockerel!")  and  named  him  Porfiry 
in  honor  of  the  old  soothsayer.  The  first  half  of  the 
prophecy  had  been  fulfilled;  but  what  could  be  the 
hidden  meaning  of  the  mysterious  words,  "the  brood- 
hen — cluck!  cluck! — but  it  will  be  too  late?"  Arina 
Petrovna  often  pondered  over  it,  whenever  her  eyes 
fell  on  Porfisha,  who  sat  in  his  nook  with  his  enig- 
matic gaze  fixed  on  her. 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  15 

Meanwhile  Porfisha  kept  on  staring,  quiet  and  meek, 
staring  so  intently  that  his  wide-open,  motionless  eyes 
began  to  swim  in  tears,  as  if  he  vaguely  sensed  the 
doubts  that  tormented  his  mother's  soul,  and  wished 
to  behave  so  as  to  disarm  her  most  persistent  suspi- 
cion. At  the  risk  of  annoying  his  mother,  he  con- 
stantly hovered  about  her,  and  the  expression  in  his 
eyes  seemed  to  say :  "Look  at  me !  I  conceal  nothing 
from  you.  I  am  all  obedience  and  devotion,  and,  mind 
you,  I  am  obedient  and  devoted  not  only  from  fear 
but  also  from  loyalty."  And  although  an  inner  voice 
constantly  sounded  warning  that  the  young  scoundrel 
was  dangerous  in  spite  of  his  wheedling  and  fawning, 
her  heart  could  not  resist  such  unremitting  devotion 
and  her  hand  involuntarily  felt  for  the  best  piece  in 
the  dish  to  bestow  upon  the  affectionate  child.  And 
yet  the  very  sight  of  him  at  times  awakened  a  vague 
fear  of  something  puzzling  and  eery. 

The  exact  opposite  of  Porfiry  was  his  brother, 
Pavel,  the  most  perfect  embodiment  of  absolute  pas- 
sivity. As  a  boy  he  manifested  no  inclination  what- 
ever for  study,  or  games,  or  playing  with  other  boys, 
but  liked  to  keep  to  himself.  He  would  get  into  a 
corner,  pout,  and  set  to  work  building  air  castles, 
dreaming  that  he  had  gorged  himself  with  oatmeal  so 
that  his  legs  had  become  thin  and  he  had  no  lessons 
to  learn,  or  else  that  he  w^as  Davidka,  the  shepherd, 
with  a  growing  lump  on  his  forehead,  just  hke 
David's,  and  cracked  a  w^hip  and  had  no  lessons  to 
learn.  Arina  Petrovna  would  gaze  at  him  for  a  long 
time,  and  then  her  motherly  feelings  would  well 
up: 

"Why  do  you  sit  there  like  a  mouse  on  groats?" 
she  would  scold.     "Is  the  poison  working  in  you  al- 


i6  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

already?  Why  don't  you  come  over  to  your  mother 
and  say :    'Mamenka  darling,  hug  me  ?'  " 

Pavel  would  leave  his  place  of  refuge  and  slowly 
approach  his  mother,  as  if  someone  were  pushing  him 
from  behind.  "Mamenka  darling,"  he  would  repeat 
in  a  bass  voice  unnatural  in  a  child,  "hug  me." 

"Get  out  of  my  sight,  you  sneak.  You  think  if 
you  get  into  your  corner  I  don't  understand.  You  are 
mistaken,  my  darling.  I  see  through  and  through 
you.  Your  plans  and  projects  are  as  clear  as  if  they 
were  spread  on  the  palm  of  my  hand." 

And  Pavel  would  just  as  slowly  retrace  his  steps  and 
bury  himself  again  in  his  corner. 

Years  passed  by,  and  Pavel  Vladimirych  gradually 
developed  that  apathetic,  unaccountably  gloomy  char- 
acter which  often  goes  with  absolute  passivity.  He 
was,  perhaps,  good,  but  he  had  done  nobody  any  good ; 
he  was,  perhaps,  not  without  some  intelligence,  but 
he  had  not  achieved  anything  intelligent  in  his  life. 
He  was  hospitable,  but  people  did  not  like  to  avail 
themselves  of  his  hospitality.  He  spent  money  readi- 
ly, but  nothing  good  or  pleasant  came  of  his  lavishness 
to  anybody.  He  never  harmed  anybody,  but  that  was 
not  considered  a  merit.  He  was  honest,  but  no  one 
had  ever  heard  it  said :  "How  honorably  Pavel  Golov- 
liov  dealt  in  that  affair!"  It  must  be  added  that 
sometimes,  not  often,  he  snarled  at  his  mother,  al- 
though he  feared  her  like  poison.  I  repeat,  he  was  an 
ill-tempered  persoii,  but  back  of  his  moroseness  was 
nothing  but  sheer  inertness. 

When  the  brothers  reached  maturity,  the  difference 
in  their  characters  was  most  conspicuous  in  their 
relation  to  their  mother.  Yudushka  punctually  every 
week  sent  a  lengthy  epistle  to  "mother  dear,"  in  which 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  17 

he  informed  her  in  the  greatest  detail  of  all  the  minu- 
tiae of  his  Hfe  in  St.  Petersburg,  and  assured  her  of 
his  disinterested  filial  devotion  in  the  most  carefully 
selected  terms.  As  for  Pavel,  he  wrote  rarely,  la- 
conically, and  sometimes  even  enigmatically,  pulling 
every  word  out  of  himself  with  a  pair  of  tongs,  as 
it  were. 

''My  adorable  friend  and  dear  mother,"  is  what 
Porfiry  Vladimirych  wrote,  for  instance,  ''I  have 
received  the  money  from  the  peasant  Yerofeyev,  and 
I  send  you  my  most  heartfelt  thanks  for  forwarding 
the  sum,  which,  according  to  your  gracious  wish,  dear- 
est mamenka,  is  to  be  spent  for  my  maintenance.  I 
also  kiss  your  hands  with  sincere  filial  devotion.  What 
worries  and  grieves  me  is  the  thought  that  you  are 
straining  your  precious  health  all  too  much  by  your 
ceaseless  efforts  to  satisfy  not  only  our  needs,  but  our 
whims  as  well.  I  don't  know  what  brother  thinks, 
but  I "  etc.,  etc. 

As  for  Pavel,  what  he  wrote  on  a  similar  occasion 
was :  "Dear  mother,  am  in  receipt  of  the  money,  and, 
according  to  my  calculations,  you  still  owe  six  and 
a  half  rubles,  for  which  I  beg  to  be  graciously  for- 
given." 

When  Arina  Petrovna  wrote  reprimanding  the 
children  for  their  extravagance — she  did  so  rather  fre- 
quently, although  there  was  no  serious  necessity  for 
it — Porfisha  invariably  received  her  rebuke  submis- 
sively and  replied :  "1  am  well  aware,  my  dearest 
friend  and  mother,  that  you  bear  the  heaviest  burdens 
for  the  sake  of  us,  your  unworthy  children.  I  know 
that  often  our  behavior  does  not  justify  your  mother- 
ly solicitude,  and  what  is  worse,  erring  humans  that 
we  are,  we  often  forget  it,  for  which  I  apologize  most 


i8  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

devotedly  and  sincerely,  in  the  hope  that  in  the  course 
of  time  I  will  overcome  my  weakness  and  be  more 
prudent  in  my  expenditure  of  the  funds  that  you 
send,  my  adorable  friend  and  mother,  for  my  main- 
tenance and  for  other  purposes."  Pavel  would  an- 
swer back :  "Dearest  mother,  though  you  have  not  as 
yet  paid  any  of  my  debts,  I  accept  most  submissively 
the  name  of  spendthrift  which  you  choose  to  bestow 
upon  me,  whereof  I  beg  most  sincerely  to  accept  my 
assurance." 

Even  the  replies  that  the  brothers  made  to  the  letter 
announcing  the  death  of  their  sister,  Anna  Vladimir- 
ovna,  were  quite  different  from  each  other.  Porfiry 
Vladimirych  said :  *'The  news  of  the  death  of  my  dear 
sister  and  good  playmate,  Anna  Vladimirovna,  has 
filled  my  heart  with  sorrow,  a  sorrow  aggravated  by 
the  thought  that  a  new  cross  has  been  given  you  to 
bear,  dearest  little  mother,  in  the  shape  of  two  little 
orphans.  Is  it  not  sufficient  that  you,  common  bene- 
factress to  us  all,  deny  yourself  everything  and,  with- 
out sparing  your  health,  concentrate  all  your  power  on 
the  sole  object  of  assuring  the  family  not  only  the 
necessaries  of  life  but  also  the  luxuries?  Believe  me, 
it  is  a  wicked  thing  to  do,  but  now  and  then,  I  con- 
fess, I  cannot  refrain  from  grumbling.  As  far  as  I 
can  see,  the  only  solace  for  you,  my  dearest,  in  this 
state  of  affairs  is  to  remember  as  often  as  you  can  all 
that  Christ  himself  had  to  undergo."  Pavel's  reply 
ran :  "The  news  of  my  sister,  who  has  fallen  a  victim, 
I  have  received.  I  hope,  however,  that  the  Most  High 
will  rest  her  in  His  celestial  tent,  although  this  is 
uncertain." 

Arina  Petrovna  reading  these  letters  would  try  to 
guess  which  of  the  two  sons  would  be  her  destruction. 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  19 

At  times  she  felt  certain  the  danger  was  coming  from 
Porfiry  Vladimirych. 

"Look  how  he  wags  his  tongue,  a  regular  fiend  at 
writing!"  she  would  exclaim.  "Simple  Simon's  nick- 
name suits  to  a  tee — Yudushka !  Not  a  word  of  truth 
in  all  this  stuff  about  my  burdens,  my  cross,  and  the 
rest.    Sheer  lies !   Not  an  ounce  of  feeling  in  his  heart !" 

At  other  times  Pavel  Vladimirych  seemed  to  be  her 
real  enemy. 

"A  fool,  and  yet  look  how  deftly  he  tries  to  make 
love  to  mother  on  the  sly.  ^Whereof  I  beg  most  sin- 
cerely to  accept  my  assurance!'  Wait  a  while!  Г11 
teach  you  what  'accept  assurances'  means!  I  shall 
deal  with  you  as  I  did  with  Simple  Simon,  and  you'll 
find  out  what  I  mean  by  your  'assurances' !" 

In  the  end  a  truly  tragical  cry  would  burst  from 
her  lips.     "And   for  whom  am   I   hoarding  all   this  X) 
wealth?     For  whom  am  I  gathering  all  this?     I  deny  ' 
myself  sleep  and  food — for  whom?" 

Such  were  the  domestic  circumstances  of  the  Go- 
lovliovs  at  the  time  that  the  bailiff,  Anton  Vasilyev, 
reported  to  Arina  Petrovna  that  Simple  Simon  had 
dissipated  "the  bone"  flung  to  him,  which,  in  view  of 
its  loss,  might  now  be  called  with  especial  significance 
the  "parental  blessing." 

Arina  Petrovna  sat  in  her  bedroom,  all  her  senses 
dazed.  A  vague,  unaccountable  feeling  stirred  with- 
in her,  whether  pity,  born  suddenly  and  miraculously, 
for  her  hated  offspring,  who,  after  all,  was  her  son, 
or  whether  merely  thwarted  despotism,  the  most  ex- 
pert psychologist  would  have  been  unable  to  decide. 
Her  sensations  were  utterly  confused  and  succeeded 
each  other  with  bewildering  swiftness.  Finally,  out 
of  the  welter  of  her  thoughts  there  crystallized  one 


20  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

emotion,  the  fear  that  "the  horrid  creature"  would 
again  be  hanging  round  her  neck. 

"Aniutka  has  forced  her  whelps  on  me,  and  now  this 
dunderhead  is  coming  here,"  she  pondered  deeply. 

Long  she  sat  silent,  her  eyes  fixed  and  intent. 
Dinner  was  brought  in,  but  she  hardly  touched  it;  a 
servant  came  and  said  the  master  wanted  brandy. 
Without  looking  up  she  threw  him  the  keys  of  the 
store-room.  After  the  meal  she  ordered  the  bath  to 
be  prepared  for  her.  Then  she  went  into  the  oratory, 
ordered  all  the  image  lamps  to  be  lit,  and  shut  herself 
in.  These  were  all  clear  signs  that  the  mistress  was 
"in  a  temper,"  and  so  the  house  turned  as  quiet  as  a 
churchyard.  The  chambermaids  walked  on  tiptoe; 
Akulina,  the  housekeeper,  ran  back  and  forth  like  a 
lunatic.  The  preparations  for  preserving  had  been 
set  for  after  dinner;  the  berries  had  been  rinsed  and 
made  ready,  but  the  mistress  gave  no  orders  either 
to  go  ahead  or  to  wait.  The  gardener,  Matvey,  came 
to  ask  whether  it  was  time  to  gather  the  peaches,  but 
such  was  his  reception  in  the  maids'  room  that  he  fled 
precipitately. 

Prayers  and  bath  over,  Arina  Petrovna  felt  almost 
reconciled  with  the  world  and  had  the  bailiff  sum- 
moned again. 

"Now  tell  me,  what  is  the  numskull  doing?"  she 
asked. 

"Well,  Moscow  is  big,  it  would  take  more  than  a 
year  to  walk  through  it." 

"But  he  needs  something  to  fill  his  stomach  with, 
doesn't  he?" 

"Our  peasants  feed  him.  He  eats  with  one,  gets 
money  for  tobacco  from  another." 

"And  who  permits  them  to  give  him  anything?" 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  21 

"Goodness  me,  madam!  The  people  don't  com- 
plain. They  give  alms  to  strangers.  Should  they  re- 
fuse a  mite  to  their  own  master's  son?" 

"Г11  teach  them  to  give  mites !  I'll  have  the  block- 
head deported  to  your  estate,  and  the  community  will 
have  to  maintain  him  at  its  own  expense." 

"As  you  command,  madam." 

"What?     What  did  you  say?" 

"As  you  command,  my  lady.  If  you  order  it,  we 
shall  feed  him." 

"That's  better.     But  talk  sensibly." 

A  pause  ensued.  Then  the  bailiff,  true  to  his  na- 
ture and  his  nickname,  lost  patience  and  began  to  shift 
from  one  leg  to  another,  obviously  burning  with  the 
desire  to  unburden  his  mind  of  something. 

"He's  a  clever  one,  though,"  he  finally  blurted  out. 
"People  say  he  brought  back  a  hundred  rubles  from 
the  campaign.  It  isn't  a  fortune,  but  still  one  can 
live  on  it  for  a  time." 

"Well?" 

"He  thought  he  might  improve  his  situation  and 
went  in  for  a  shady  business." 

"Go  on,  go  on,  and  don't  give  me  any  lies." 

"He  went  to  the  German  Club.  He  thought  he 
would  find  a  fool  to  beat  at  cards,  but  instead  he  hap- 
pened on  a  cunning  hawk.  He  tried  to  get  away,  but 
was  held  up  in  the  lobby.  Of  course,  he  was  plucked 
clean." 

"I  suppose  he  was  roughly  handled,  too." 

"Of  course.  The  next  morning  he  came  to  our 
man,  Ivan  Mikhailych,  and  told  the  tale  himself.  It's 
queer,  he  was  in  high  spirits  and  laughed  as  if  they  had 
treated  him  like  a  lord." 

"Things  run  from  him  like  water  off  a  duck's  back. 


22  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

But  I  won't  grieve  over  it,  provided  he  does  not  come 
within  sight  of  me." 

"But  I  believe  he  will." 

"Nonsense,  I  will  not  allow  him  to  cross  my  thres- 
hold." 

"But  I'm  sufe  he  will,"  insisted  Anton  Vasilyev. 
"He  said  so  in  plain  words  to  Ivan  Mikhailych. 
'Enough,'  he  says,  *I  am  going  back  to  the  old  woman 
to  eat  her  dry  crusts.'  And,  madam,  to  speak  the  truth, 
where  can  he  lay  his  head  but  here?  He  cannot 
keep  on  forever  feeding  on  our  men  in  Moscow.  And 
besides,  he  needs  clothing  and  comforts." 

That  was  exactly  the  thing  Arina  Petrovna  dreaded. 
It  was  the  very  essence  of  the  obscure  thought  that 
so  deeply  alarmed  her.     "Yes,  he  will  turn  up,"  she 
said  to  herself,  "he  has  no  other  place  to  go  to,  there's 
no  doubt  of  it."     He  would  always  be  there,  within 
her  sight,   that  accursed,   hated'  stranger  of   a  son. 
What  had  been  the  good  of  throwing  his  portion  to 
him?     She   had   thought  that,   having   received   "his 
due,"  he  would  drop  into  eternity.     And  there  he  was, 
rising  from  the  dead.     He  would  come,  make  inso- 
lent demands,  and  hang  on  like  a  leech,  shocking  ev- 
erybody by  his  beggarly  appearance.     And  she  would 
have  to  meet  his  demands,  because  he  was  a  brazen- 
faced bully,  capable  of  any  violence.     You  cannot  put 
such  a  man  under  restraint ;  he  is  capable  of  parading  in 
tatters  before  strangers,  of  the  wildest  debauchery,  of 
running  away  to  the  neighbors  and  telling  them  the  ins 
and  outs  of  the  family  affairs.     Should  she  have  him 
deported  to  the  Suzdal  Monastery,  which  was  said  to 
be  a  place  for  ridding  parents  in  distress  of  the  sight 
of  their  refractory  children?     But  the  Lord  knows 
whether  that  fabulous  institution  existed  at  all.     Peo- 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  23 

pie  said  there  were  such  things  as  houses  of  correc- 
tion. But  how  could  one  get  an  overgrown  dolt  into 
one  of  them? 

In  short,  Arina  Petrovna  was  altogether  upset  by 
the  thought  of  how  the  arrival  of  Simple  Simon  was 
going  to  disturb  her  peaceful  existence. 

"I  shall  billet  him  upon  you/'  Avas  her  threat  to  the 
bailiff.     'Teed  him  at  your  own  expense." 

"Why  so,  madam?" 

"Because  you  stand  there  croaking:  'He's  sure  to 
come,'  "  she  mimicked.  "Get  out  of  my  sight,  you 
raven !" 

Anton  Vasilyev  turned  to  go,  but  Arina  Petrovna 
stopped  him: 

"Wait  a  minute.  Is  it  true  that  he  is  starting  out 
for  Golovliovo?" 

"I'm  not  in  the  habit  of  telling  lies,  madam.  He 
said  so  plainly — *I  am  going  back  to  the  old  woman 
to  eat  her  dry  crusts.'  " 

"He'll  soon  find  out  what  kind  of  crusts  the  old 
woman  has  prepared  for  him." 

"But,  madam,  he  won't  live  with  you  long." 

"Why  not?" 

"Well,  madam,  he  coughs  very  badly  and  keeps  on 
clutching  the  left  side  of  his  chest.  He  won't  live 
long." 

"That  kind  generally  lives  very  long.  He'll  out- 
live us  all.  The  coughing  doesn't  hurt  him.  Well, 
we  shall  see  about  it  later.  Leave  me  now.  I  have 
several  matters  to  attend  to." 

Arina  Petrovna  spent  the  whole  evening  pondering 
over  this  problem.  Finally  she  found  it  best  to  con- 
voke the  family  council  for  the  purpose  of  deciding 
what  was  to  be  done  with  Simple  Simon.     Such  con- 


i 


24  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

stitutionalism  was  not  her  habit.  She  made  up  her 
mind  to  digress  from  the  traditions  of  autocracy  sole- 
ly for  the  purpose  of  shielding  herself  from  public 
censure,  and  as  she  did  not  doubt  the  outcome  of  the 
conference,  she  sat  down  with  a  light  heart  to  write 
to  Porfiry  and  Pavel  asking  them  to  come  to  Golov- 
liovo  immediately. 


CHAPTER  III 

Meanwhile,  the  cause  of  all  this  mess,  Simple  Si- 
mon, was  on  his  way  to  Golovliovo.  In  Moscow  he  en- 
gaged a  seat  in  one  of  the  so-called  "diligences,"  in 
which  small  merchants  and  peasant  traders  used  to 
travel,  and  which  are  still  seen  in  some  districts. 
The  diligence  had  the  city  of  Vladimir  as  its  point  of 
destination,  and  Stepan  was  enabled  to  travel  in  it 
through  the  liberality  of  the  aforesaid  innkeeper  Ivan 
Mikhailych,  who  also  paid  for  his  master's  meals  on 
the  journey. 

"Listen,"  said  Ivan  Mikhailych,  with  the  air  of  an 
accomplice.  "Do  this,  get  off  at  the  station  and  go 
straight  up  to  your  mother  just  as  you  are." 

"Yes,  yes,  yes,"  answered  Stepan  Vladimirych  ap- 
provingly. "The  house  is  only  about  fifteen  versts 
from  there.  I  can  walk  it  in  no  time.  I  shall  appear 
before  her  all  dirty  and  dusty." 

"When  your  mother  sees  you  in  that  rig,  perhaps 
she'll  take  pity  on  you." 

"She  will,  she  will.  Mother,  after  all,  is  a  kindly 
old  woman." 

Stepan  Golovliov  was  not  quite  forty,  but  he  looked 
like  fifty.  Life  had  so  thoroughly  worn  him  out  that 
there  was  not  a  vestige  of  his  noble  origin  left,  not 
a  single  trace  of  his  university  education  nor  of  the 
enlightening  word  of  science  which  in  days  bygone 

25 


2б  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

had  been  addressed  to  him,  too.  He  was  tall  as  a 
Maypole,  racked  by  hunger,  unkempt,  untidy,  with  a 
sunken  chest  and  long  bony  arms.  His  bloated  face, 
his  dishevelled  hair,  streaked  with  grey,  his  loud, 
hoarse  voice,  his  bulging,  bloodshot  eyes  were  unmis- 
takable signs  of  heavy  drinking  and  a  weather-beaten 
life.  He  wore  an  old,  threadbare  uniform,  with  the 
galloons  gone — they  had  been  sold  to  a  smelter — and 
a  pair  of  reddish  boots,  patched  and  sadly  worn.  Be- 
neath his  coat,  when  unbuttoned,  peeped  a  dirty  sh*:*t, 
as  black  as  if  it  had  been  smeared  with  soot.  With 
the  cynicism  of  a  militiaman,  he  called  it  "a  flea  nest." 

His  glance  was  stealthy  and  gloomy,  the  expression 
not  of  inner  discontent,  but  rather  of  a  vague  anxiety 
which  seemed  to  come  from  an  ever-present  fear  of 
death  by  starvation.  He  talked  ceaselessly  and  dis- 
connectedly, passing  without  transition  from  one  sub- 
ject to  another.  He  spoke  whether  Ivan  Mikhailych 
listened  or  dozed  off  under  the  soporific  of  his  gar- 
rulousness.  He  was  dreadfully  uncomfortable,  be- 
cause there  were  four  people  in  the  diligence  and  he 
had  to  sit  with  his  legs  bent,  so  that  at  the  end  of  three 
or  four  versts  he  had  an  intolerable  pain  in  his  knee- 
joints.  Nevertheless  the  pain  did  not  prevent  him. 
from  talking.  Clouds  of  dust  entered  through  the  side 
windows  of  the  vehicle,  at  times  flooded  by  a  flaming, 
scorching  sheet  of  sunlight.  But  Stepan  Golovliov 
kept  on  talking. 

"Yes,  brother,"  he  held  forth,  "I  have  lived  hard 
all  my  life.  It  is  high  time  to  rest.  I  shan't  be  eat- 
ing her  out  of  house  and  home,  shall  I?  She  has 
enough  and  to  spare.  What  d*you  think,  Ivan  Mik- 
hailych?" 

'*0h,  your  mother  has  plenty  to  eat." 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  2; 

"Yes,  but  not  for  me,  you  mean  to  say?  Yes, 
friend,  she  has  heaps  of  money,  but  not  a  copper  for 
me.  And  to  think  the  hag  has  always  hated  me. 
Why?  But  now  ril  sing  her  a  different  song.  I've 
made  up  my  mind.  I'm  desperate.  If  she  tries  to 
drive  me  out,  I  won't  go.  If  she  doesn't  give  me 
food,  I'll  take  it.  I've  served  my  country,  brother. 
Now  it's  everyone's  duty  to  help  me.  There's  only 
one  thing  I'm  afraid  of,  that  she  won't  give  me  to- 
bacco." 

"Yes,  you'll  have  to  say  good-by  to  tobacco." 

"Then  I'll  put  the  screw  on  the  bailiff.  The  devil 
can  well  afford  to  give  his  master  a  present  now  and 
then." 

"Oh,  yes,  he  may  do  that,  but  what  if  your  mother 
forbids  him  to?" 

"Well,  in  that  case  I'll  be  done  for.  Tobacco  is 
the  only  luxury  that  has  remained  of  my  former  style. 
When  I  had  money  I  used  to  smoke  not  less  than  a 
quarter  of  a  pound  of  Zhukov's  tobacco  every  day." 

"I  guess  you'll  have  to  do  without  brandy,  too." 

"Another  calamity.  Brandy  does  me  a  lot  of  good. 
It  breaks  up  my  phlegm.  When  we  were  marching 
to  Sebastopol,  we  had  hardly  reached  Serpukhov, 
when  each  man  had  already  been  given  three  gallons 
of  brandy." 

"You  must  have  lost  your  senses." 

"I  don't  remember.  We  marched  as  far  as  Khar- 
kov, but  I'll  be  hanged  if  I  remember  anything  else. 
The  only  thing  I  can  recall  is  that  we  passed  through 
villages  and  towns  and  that  at  Tula  an  otkupshchik 
made  a  speech.  He  shed  tears,  the  scoundrel  did. 
Yes,  our  holy  mother  Russia  drank  from  the  cup  of 
sorrow  in  those  days.     Otkupshchiki,  contractors,  re- 


'2S  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

ceivers — it's  a  wonder  God  succeeded  in  saving  the 
country  from  them." 

"Oh,  your  mother  came  in  for  some  of  the  profits. 
In  our  village  hardly  half  of  the  soldiers  returned  home. 
A  recruit's  receipt  is  now  given  for  each  man  lost  in 
the  campaign,  and  the  government  rates  such  a  quit- 
tance at  more  than  four  hundred  rubles/' 

"Yes,  my  mater  is  a  cunning  blade.  She  ought  to 
be  a  minister  of  state  instead  of  housekeeper  at  Go- 
lovliovo.  Let  me  tell  you,  she  has  been  unjust  to 
me  and  she  has  insulted  me,  but  I  respect  her.  The 
main  thing  is,  she's  clever  as  the  devil.  If  not  for 
her,  where  would  we  have  been  now?  We  would 
have  had  nothing  but  Golovliovo  with  its  one  hundred 
and  one  and  a  half  souls.  Just  think  what  an  enor- 
mous pile  she  has  made." 

"Well,  your  brothers  will  certainly  be  rich." 

"Yes.  But  I'll  have  nothing,  that's  just  as  certain. 
Yes,  friend,  I've  gone  to  rack  and  ruin.  But  my 
brothers,  they'll  be  rich,  especially  the  Bloodsucker. 
He  can  ensnare  a  person  in  no  time,  and  it  won't  be 
long  before  he'll  undo  her,  too.  He'll  pump  the  es- 
tate and  the  money  out  of  her.  I  have  an  eye  for 
these  things.  But  Pavel,  he's  a  fine  chap.  He  will 
send  my  tobacco  on  the  sly.  You'll  see  if  he  doesn't. 
As  soon  as  I  reach  Golovliovo,  I'll  send  a  note  off  to 
him :  'Dear  brother,  it's  so  and  so  with  me.  Ease  my 
soul.'     Ah,  if  I  were  rich!" 

"What  would  you  do?" 

"In  the  first  place,  I'd  make  you  roll  in  wealth." 

"Why  me?  First  think  of  yourself.  I'm  con- 
tented, living  as  I  do  under  your  mother's  rule." 

"Oh,  no,  brother,  attendez!  I  would  make  you  the 
chief  marshal  of  all  my  estates.     Yes,  my  dear  friend. 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  29 

you  have  fed  and  warmed  a  soldier,  accept  my  thanks. 
If  not  for  your  generosity,  I  should  now  be  footing 
it  all  the  way  to  the  home  of  my  fathers.  And,  of 
course,  i  would  free  you  on  the  spot  and  open  up  all 
my  treasury  to  you — drink,  eat  and  be  merry.  What 
did  you  think  I  would  do?" 

"You'd  better  stop  worrying  about  me,  sir.  What 
else  would  you  do  if  you  were  rich?" 

"In  the  second  place,  Fd  get  a  mistress  at  once.  At 
Kursk  I  went  to  mass  once  and  saw  one — a  queen  I 
She  was  very  fidgety  and  restless." 

"But  maybe  she  would  object  to  becoming  your 
mistress." 

"And  how  about  hard  cash  ?  What's  the  filthy  lucre  \ 
for?  If  a  hundred  thousand  is  not  enough  for  her, 
she'll  take  two  hundred  thousand.  When  I  have 
money,  no  expense  is  too  great  for  me,  if  it  is  a  ques- 
tion of  getting  a  bit  of  pleasure  out  of  life.  I  must 
confess  that  at  the  time  I  let  her  know  through  our 
corporal  that  I  would  give  her  three  rubles.  But  the 
wench  asked  five." 

"That  was  too  much  for  you,  of  course!" 

"Well,  I  can't  tell.  As  I  said,  I  was  in  a  dream  the 
whole  time.  Maybe  she  came  to  me,  but  I  forget. 
Those  two  months  of  marching  have  gone  completely 
out  of  my  mind.  No  such  thing  has  happened  to 
you,  I  suppose?" 

Ivan  Mikhailych  was  silent.  Stepan  Vladimirych 
looked  at  him  attentively  and  discovered  that  his  fel- 
low-traveller was  sound  asleep, 

''Umph,"  he  said.  "He  has  nodded  off,  the  sleepy- 
head. You  have  grown  fat,  brother,  on  the  tea  and 
fare  of  your  eating-house.  I  can't  sleep,  not  a  wink. 
A  good  chance  for  a  lark." 


ЗО  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

Golovliov  looked  around  and  saw  that  every- 
body was  asleep.  The  merchant  at  his  side  was  con- 
stantly striking  his  head  against  a  cross-beam,  but  kept 
on  sleeping.  His  face  shone  as  if  veneered,  and  flies 
swarmed  about  his  mouth.  A  splendid  idea,  Stepan 
thought,  to  cram  all  the  flies  down  the  merchant's 
throat.  His  hand  began  to  move  toward  the  mer- 
chant, but  halfway  he  repented  and  gave  up  the  idea. 
"No  more  pranks,"  he  said,  "enough.  Sleep,  friends, 
and  rest."  Meanwhile — where  had  he  hidden  the 
bottle  ?  Here,  the  darling !  "Let  me  see  you.  Lord, 
save  Thy  creatures,"  he  hummed,  taking  out  a  bottle 
from  a  bag  fastened  to  the  side  of  the  vehicle  and 
applying  it  to  his  mouth.  "Ah,  that's  better.  It 
warms  your  insides,  you  know.  Shall  I  have  some 
more?  Well,  no.  The  station  is  about  twenty  versts 
from  here.  I'll  have  time  to  get  as  drunk  as  a  lord. 
But  shan't  I  have  just  one  drop  more?  The  deuce 
take  it,  the  vodka.  The  bottle  simply  acts  like  a  charm. 
It's  wicked  to  drink,  but  how  can  you  help  it,  if  it  is 
the  only  way  of  getting  some  sleep  ?  I  wish  the  vodka, 
the  deuce  take  it,  would  do  for  me  quick." 

He  gulped  down  some  more  vodka,  returned  the 
bottle  to  its  place,  and  began  to  fill  his  pipe. 

"We  are  all  right,"  he  said,  talking  to  himself. 
"First,  we  had  a  sip,  and  here  we  are  smoking.  She 
won't  let  me  have  any  tobacco,  the  old  hag,  sure  as 
fate  she  won't,  the  man  is  right.  Will  she  give  me 
food?  She  may  send  me  what  is  left  over  from  her 
meals.  Well,  we,  too,  had  money,  but  now  we  have 
none.  Such  is  life.  To-day  you  eat  and  drink  your 
fill,  you  enjoy  yourself  and  smoke  a  pipe, 

"'And  to-morrow — where  art  thou,  man?* 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  31 

Still  it  would  not  be  a  bad  thing  to  have  a  bite  now. 
I  drink  like  a  fish  and  I  hardly  ever  have  a  square 
meal.  Doctors  say  drinking  does  you  good  only  when 
followed  by  a  hearty  meal,  as  the  Most  Reverend 
Smaragd  said  when  we  passed  through  Oboyan.  Was 
it  Oboyan?  The  deuce  knows,  it  may  have  been 
Kromy.  But  that's  immaterial  now.  The  main  ques- 
tion is,  how  to  get  something  to  eat.  I  recollect  that 
my  man  put  a  sausage  and  three  rolls  into  the  bag. 
Caviar  is  too  expensive  for  the  rascal.  Look  at  the 
fellow — sleeps  like  a  log  and  sings  through  his  nose. 
I  wouldn't  be  surprised  if  he  were  sitting  on  the  bag." 

He  rummaged  about  in  search  of  the  bag,  but  could 
not  find  it. 

"Ivan  Mikhailych,  Ivan  Mikhailych,"  he  shouted  to 
the  sleeping  innkeeper.  The  man  woke  up  and  for 
a  while  could  not  make  out  where  he  was  and  how  he 
happened  to  be  sitting  opposite  his  master. 

"I  was  just  beginning  to  nap,"  he  said  finally. 

"Sleep,  friend,  sleep.  I  only  want  to  know  where 
the  bag  with  the  food  is." 

"Are  you  hungry?  But  you  would  like  a  drink 
first,  I  suppose." 

"Right.    Where  is  the  bottle?" 

Stepan  Vladimirych  took  a  drink,  and  then  attacked 
the  sausage,  which  happened  to  be  as  salty  as  salt 
itself  and  as  hard  as  stone,  so  that  he  had  to  use  the 
point  of  his  knife  to  pierce  it. 

"Some  whitefish  would  taste  good  now,"  he  re- 
marked. 

"Excuse  me,  sir,  I  clean  forgot  about  the  whitefish. 
All  morning  I  kept  saying  to  my  wife :  *Be  sure  to  re- 
mind me  of  the  whitefish.'     I  am  very  sorry." 

"Oh,  it  doesn't  matter.     The  sausage  is  good  enough 


32  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

for  me.  When  we  were  on  the  campaign,  we  ate 
worse  things.  Father  used  to  tell  that  two  English- 
men made  a  bet.  One  of  them  was  to  eat  a  dead  cat, 
and  he  ate  it." 

"You  don't  say!" 

"He  did.  And  he  was  as  sick  as  a  dog  afterwards. 
He  cured  himself  with  rum.  He  guzzled  two  bottles 
as  fast  as  he  could,  and  that  set  him  right  at  once. 
Another  Englishman  made  a  bet  that  he  would  live 
a  whole  year  on  nothing  but  sugar." 

"Did  he  win?" 

"No.  He  kicked  the  bucket  two  days  before  the 
end  of  the  year.  And  how  about  you,  why  don't  you 
-take  a  drink?" 

"I  never  touch  it." 

"So  you  swill  nothing  but  tea.  No  good,  brother. 
That's  why  your  belly  has  grown  so  big.  One  must 
be  careful  with  tea.  A  cup  of  tea  must  be  followed 
by  a  glass  of  vodka.  Tea  gathers  phlegm,  vodka 
breaks  it  up.     Isn't  that  so?" 

"Well,  I  don't  know.  You  are  learned;  you  know 
better." 

"True.  On  the  campaign  we  had  no  time  to  bother 
with  tea  or  coffee.  But  vodka — that's  a  holy  affair. 
You  unscrew  the  flask,  pour  the  vodka  into  a  cup, 
drink,  and  that's  all.  At  that  time  we  had  to  march 
so  fast  that  for  ten  days  I  went  without  washing." 

"You  certainly  roughed  it,  sir." 

"Yes,  marching  on  the  highroad  is  not  a  joke. 
Still,  on  our  way  forward  it  was  not  so  bad.  People 
gave  us  money,  and  there  was  plenty  to  eat  and  drink. 
But  when  we  marched  back  there  was  no  more  feting." 

Golovliov  gnawed  at  the  sausage  and  finally  chewed 
up  a  piece. 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  33 

*'It  is  very  salty,  this  sausage  is,"  he  said.  "But 
I'm  not  squeamish.  After  all,  mother  won't  feed  me 
on  tid-bits.  A  plate  of  cabbage  soup  and  some  gruel 
— that's  all  she'll  let  me  have." 

"God  is  merciful.  Maybe  she'll  give  you  pie  on 
holidays." 

"No,  I  imagine  there'll  be  no  tea,  no  tobacco,  no 
vodka.  People  say  she  has  become  fond  of  playing 
fool,  so  she  may  call  me  in  to  take  a  hand  at  the 
game  and  give  me  some  tea.  As  for  the  rest,  there  is 
no  hope." 

There  was  a  four-hour  rest  to  feed  the  horses.  Go- 
lovliov  had  finished  the  bottle  and  was  tormented  by 
hunger.  The  travellers  entered  the  inn  and  settled 
down  to  a  hearty  meal. 

Stepan  Vladimirych  took  a  stroll  in  the  court,  paid 
a  visit  to  the  backyard,  the  stables  and  the  dovecote, 
and  even  tried  to  sleep.  Finally  he  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  best  thing  for  him  to  do  was  to  join 
his  fellow-travellers  in  the  inn.  There  the  cabbage 
soup  was  already  steaming  and  on  a  wooden  tray  on 
the  sideboard  lay  a  great  chunk  of  beef,  which  Ivan 
Mikhailych  was  just  then  engaged  in  carving.  Go- 
lovliov  seated  himself  a  little  way  from  the  table, 
lighted  his  pipe,  and  sat  silent  for  quite  a  while 
pondering  over  the  way  in  which  he  could  allay  the 
pangs  of  hunger. 

"I  wish  you  a  good  appetite,  gentlemen,"  he  said 
finally,  "the  soup  seems  to  be  good  and  rich." 

"The  soup  is  all  right,"  answered  Ivan  Mikhailych. 
"Why  don't  you  order  a  portion  for  yourself?" 

"Oh,  it  was  only  a  remark  on  my  part.  I'm  not 
hungry." 

"Impossible.     All  you've  eaten  is  a  bit  of  sausage, 


34  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

and  the  damned  thing  only  teases  one's  appetite. 
Please  eat  something.  I'll  have  a  separate  table  laid 
for  you.  My  dear  woman,"  he  turned  to  the  hostess, 
"a  place  for  the  gentleman." 

The  passengers  silently  attacked  their  meal  and  now 
and  then  exchanged  meaningful  looks.  Golovliov  felt 
his  fellow-travellers  suspected  how  matters  stood,  al- 
though he  had  played  master  throughout  the  journey, 
not  without  some  arrogance,  and  had  addressed  the 
faithful  innkeeper  as  if  he  had  merely  entrusted  him 
with  his  cash.  His  brows  knitted,  and  a  thick  cloud 
of  smoke  escaped  from  his  mouth.  In  the  depths  of 
his  heart  he  felt  he  ought  to  refuse,  but  so  imperative 
are  the  dictates  of  hunger  that  he  set  upon  the  bowl 
of  cabbage  soup  like  a  beast  of  prey  and  emptied  it 
in  a  trice.  Along  with  satiety  came  his  customary  self- 
assurance  and,  as  if  nothing  were  the  matter,  he  said, 
turning  to  Ivan  Mikhailych  : 

"Well,  my  cashier,  you  will  pay  up  for  me,  and  I 
am  off  for  the  hayloft  to  have  a  talk  with  Mr.  bOira- 
povitzky." 

He  jogged  over  to  the  hayloft,  and  as  his  stomach 
was  full  he  was  soon  fast  asleep.  He  woke  up  at  five 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  Noticing  that  the  horses 
stood  at  their  empty  bins  rubbing  their  noses  against 
the  edges,  he  roused  the  driver.  "He  sleeps  like  a 
top,  the  rascal,"  he  shouted.  "We're  in  a  hurry,  and 
he's  having  pleasant  dreams." 

Soon  the  travellers  reached  the  station  at  which  the 
road  turned  off  to  Golovliovo.  Here  at  last  Stepan 
Vladimirych  lost  some  of  his  devil-may-care  attitude 
and  became  crestfallen  and  taciturn.  Ivan  Mikhail- 
ych tried  to  cheer  him  up  and  insisted  that  he  part  with 
his  pipe. 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  35 

"You'd  better  throw  the  pipe  into  the  nettles,  sir, 
when  you  come  to  the  manor-house,"  he  coaxed.  "You 
will  find  it  later  on." 

Finally  the  horses  that  were  to  take  the  innkeeper 
to  the  end  of  his  journey  were  ready,  and  the  moment 
of  parting  came. 

"Good-by,  brother,"  said  Golovliov  in  a  tremulous 
voice,  kissing  Ivan  Mikhailych.  "She'll  plague  the  life 
out  of  me." 

"The  Lord  is  merciful.     Keep  up  a  stout  heart." 

"She'll  eat  me  up  aHve,"  repeated  Stepan  Vladi- 
mirych,  with  such  conviction  that  the  innkeeper  invol- 
untarily lowered  his  eyes. 

With  these  words  Golovliov  turned  sharply  along 
the  country  road,  walking  in  a  shuffle  and  leaning  on 
a  gnarled  stick  which  he  had  cut  off  a  tree. 

Ivan  Mikhailych  followed  him  with  his  eyes  for  a 
while,  and  then  ran  after  him. 

"Listen,  master,"  he  said.  "When  I  was  clean- 
ing your  uniform  a  few  minutes  ago,  I  saw  three 
rubles  in  your  side  pocket.     Please  don't  lose  them." 

Stepan  Vladimirych  was  visibly  irresolute  and  could 
not  make  up  his  mind  how  to  act  in  this  contingency. 
Finally,  he  stretched  out  his  hand  to  the  peasant  and 
said,   with  tears  in  his  eyes : 

"I  understand — to  buy  tobacco  for  the  old  trooper? 
Thanks.  But  she'll  eat  me  up  alive,  friend.  Sure 
as  hell." 

Golovliov  found  the  country  road  again  and  sev- 
eral minutes  later  his  grey  soldier's  cap  showed  afar 
off,  now  vanishing,  now  appearing  above  the  young 
wood.  It  was  early  in  the  day.  The  morning  mist, 
touched  into  gold  by  the  first  rays  of  the  sun,  hovered 
above  the  country  road.     The  grass  glistened  with 


^6  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

the  dew,  and  the  air  was  redolent  of  fir-trees,  mush- 
rooms, and  wild  berries.  The  road  meandered  across 
a  plain  swarming  with  birds. 

Stepan  Vladimirych,  however,  noticed  nothing  of  the 
beauty  about  him.  All  his  frivolity  had  suddenly 
gone,  and  he  walked  as  if  to  the  Last  Judgment.  One 
thought  filled  his  mind  to  the  exclusion  of  everything 
else.  In  three  or  four  hours  he  would  have  reached 
his  goal.  He  recalled  his  life  at  Golovliovo,  and  he 
felt  as  if  the  doors  of  a  damp  cellar  were  opening  to 
let  him  in,  and  no  sooner  would  he  penetrate  into  the 
gloomy  interior  than  the  doors  would  close  behind 
him  and  everything  would  be  over.  Memories  pro- 
phetic of  what  awaited  him  at  Golovliovo  surged  in 
his  mind.  There  had  been  uncle  Mikhail  Petrovich, 
popularly  known  as  Mishka  the  Squabbler,  one  of  the 
"horrid"  members  of  the  family,  whom  grandfather 
Piotr  Ivanych  had  exiled  to  Golovliovo,  where  he  had 
lived  in'  the  servants'  quarters  and  eaten  out  of  the 
same  dish  with  Trezorka,  the  house  dog.  There  had 
been  Aunt  Vera  Mikhailovna,  who  had  lived  on  the 
estate  by  her  brother's  favor  and  died  of  ''moderate 
living" ;  for  Arina  Petrovna  had  begrudged  her  every 
mouthful  at  dinner  and  every  billet  of  wood  for  the 
stove  in  her  room.     And  a  similar  fate  awaited  him. 

He  foresaw  an  endless  succession  of  joyless  days 
losing"  themselves  in  a  grey  yawning  abyss,  and  he  in- 
voluntarily shut  his  eyes.  Henceforth  he  would  have 
to  be  alone  with  a  wicked  old  woman,  half  dead  in  the 
stagnation  of  despotism.  She  would  be  the  death  of 
him  before  long,  as  sure  as  fate.  Not  a  soul  to  speak 
to,  not  a  place  to  visit.  She  would  be  everywhere, 
scornful,  despotic,  deadening.  The  thought  of  that 
inevitable   future  made  his  heart   so  heavy  that  he 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  37 

stopped  under  a  tree  in  desperation,  and  struck  his 
head  against  it  several  times.  His  entire  hfe  with  all 
its  farcical  strutting,  idleness,  and  buffoonery  loomed 
up  as  if  flooded  with  sudden  light.  Then  he  started  on 
his  way  again.  He  felt  there  was  nothing  else  left  for 
him.  The  least  of  men  can  make  some  effort,  can 
€arn  his  bread.  He  alone  w^as  helpless.  It  was  a 
new  thought.  He  had  been  accustomed  in  thinking  V 
of  his  future  to  picture  various  prospects,  but  always  / 
prospects  of  wealth  coupled  with  idleness,  never  pros- 
pects of  work.  And  now  the  time  had  come  when  he 
had  to  pay  for  the  wickedness  and  aimlessness  of  his 
existence.  It  was  a  bitter  settlement,  summed  up  in 
the  terrible  phrase :  "She  will  be  the  end  of  me." 

It  was  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  the 
white  Golovliovo  belfry  showed  above  the  forest.  The 
traveller's  face  grew  pale,  and  his  hands  began  to 
tremble.  He  took  off  his  cap  and  crossed  himself. 
The  parable  of  the  prodigal  son  and  his  return  occurred 
to  him,  but  he  at  once  rejected  the  idea  as  a  bit  of  self- 
delusion. 

Finally,  he  noticed  the  boundary-post  standing  by 
the  wayside,  and  presently  he  was  treading  the  Golov- 
liovo soil,  the  hateful^oil  that  had  borne  him,  an  un- 
loved child,  that  had  reared  him,  sent  him,  hated,  into 
the  wide  world,  and  was  now  receiving  him,  the  un- 
loved one,  back  into  its  arms  again.  The  suit  was 
high  in  the  heavens  and  was  ruthlessly  scorching  the 
boundless  fields  of  Golovliovo.  But  Stepan  Vladi- 
mirych  was  growing  paler  and  shivering  with  ague. 

At  length  he  reached  the  churchyard,  and  here  his 
courage  failed  utterly.  The  manor-house  looked  out 
from  behind  the  trees  as  if  nothing  unpleasant  had 
ever  happened  there ;  yet  the  sight  of  it  worked  on  him 


38  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

like  the  vision  of  a  Medusa  head.  His  paternal  abode 
seemed  to  be  a  tomb.  "A  tomb,  tomb,  tomb,"  he  re- 
peated unconsciously.  He  had  not  the  courage  to  go 
straight  to  the  house,  but  first  called  on  the  priest  and 
sent  him  to  break  the  news  of  his  arrival  and  in- 
quire whether  his  mother  would  receive  him. 

The  priest's  wife  was  very  sympathetic  and  hastened 
to  prepa  e  an  omelette.  The  village  children  gath- 
ered about  him  and  stared  at  the  master  with  won- 
dering eyes.  The  peasants  passing  by  lifted  their 
hats  in  silence  and  looked  at  him  curiously.  One  old 
servant  ran  up  with  the  intention  of  kissing  the  mas- 
ter's hand.  Everyone  understood  that  a  wastrel  was 
before  them,  an  unloved  son  who  had  returned  to  his 
hated  home  never  to  leave  it  except  for  the  graveyard. 
At  the  thought  of  it  the  people  were  overwhelmed  with 
a  mingled  feeling  of  pity  and  dread. 

At  last  the  priest  returned  and  announced  that  the 
lady  of  the  manor  was  ready  to  receive  Stepan  Vladi- 
mirych.  Ten  minutes  later  he  was  standing  in  her 
presence.  Arina  Petrovna  met  him  severely  and 
solemnly,  and  measured  him  icily  from  head  to  foot, 
but  allowed  herself  no  useless  reproaches.  She  re- 
ceived him,  not  in  the  living  room,  but  on  the  porch, 
and  ordered  the  young  master  to  be  taken  to  his  father 
through  another  entrance.  The  old  man  was  dozing 
in  his  bed,  under  a  white  coverlet,  in  a  white  night- 
cap, all  white  like  a  corpse.  When  he  felt  the  pres- 
ence of  his  son  he  woke  up  and  began  to  laugh  idioti- 
cally. 

*'Well,  friend,  so  now  you  are  under  the  hag's 
paw,"  he  cried,  while  his  son  kissed  his  hand.  Then 
he  crowed  like  a  cock,  burst  out  laughing  again,  and 
repeated  several  times:  "She'll  eat  him  up!     She'll 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  39 

eat  him   up!"     The  phrase   found   echo   in   Stepan's 
soul. 

His  fears  were  justified.  He  was  installed  in  a 
separate  room  in  the  wing  that  also  housed  the  count- 
ing-room. He  was  given  homespun  underwear  and  an 
old  discarded  dressing-gown  of  his  fathers,  which  he 
put  on  immediately.  The  doors  of  the  burial  vault 
had  opened,  let  him  in,  and  closed  again. 

There  now  began  a  long  succession  of  dull,  ugly 
days,  which  Time's  grey,  yawning  abyss  swallowed  up, 
one  after  the  other.  Arina  Petrovna  never  received 
him,  nor  was  he  allowed  to  see  his  father.  Three 
days  after  his  arrival,  his  mother  informed  him 
through  Finogey  Ipatych,  the  bailiff,  that  he  would 
receive  board  and  clothing  and  also  a  pound  of  Faler's 
tobacco  monthly.  Stepan  Vladimirych  listened  to  the 
bailiff,  and  merely  remarked : 

^'The  hag!  She's  found  out  that  Zhukov's  tobacco 
costs  two  rubles,  while  Faler's  is  only  one  ruble  ninety 
kopeks  a  pound.  So  she  pockets  ten  kopeks  a 
month." 

The  symptoms  of  the  moral  sobering  that  had  ap- 
peared during  the  hours  of  his  approaching  Golov-  X^ 
liovo  on  the  country  road,  vanished.  Frivolity  reas- 
serted its  rights  and  was  followed  by  an  acceptance 
of  the  conditions  his  mother  imposed  upon  him.  The 
disquieting  thought  of  the  hopeless  future,  which  had 
once  pierced  his  mind,  faded  gradually  away  and  finally 
was  no  more.  The  day  and  the  evil  thereof,  the  petty 
interests  of  existence  in  all  its  undisguised  ugliness 
absorbed  his  entire  being.  What  part,  indeed,  could 
his  intentions  and  opinions  play  when  the  course  of  the 
rest  of  his  life  in  all  its  details  was  laid  out  in  advance 
in  Arina  Petrovna's  brain? 


40  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

All  day  long  he  walked  to  and  fro  in  his  room,  pipe 
in  mouth,  humming  bits  of  songs,  passing  unaccount- 
ably from  church  tunes  to  boisterous  airs.  If  the  vil- 
lage clerk  happened  to  be  in  the  office,  he  went  up  to 
him  and  engaged  in  a  conversation,  of  which  the  chief 
topic  was  Arina  Petrovna's  income. 

''What  does  she  do  Avith  all  her  wealth?"  he  would 
exclaim  wonderingly,  having  reached  the  sum  of  more 
than  eighty  thousand  rubles.  "My  brothers'  allow- 
ances are  rather  poor;  she  herself  lives  shabbily,  and 
she  feeds  cured  meats  to  father.  She  deposits  the 
money  in  the  bank,  that's  what  she  does  with  it." 

On  one  occasion  Finogey  Ipatych  came  to  deliver 
the  taxes  he  had  gathered,  and  the  table  was  littered 
with  paper  money,  and  Stepan's  eyes  glittered. 

"Ah,  what  a  heap  of  money !"  he  exclaimed.  "And 
it  all  flows  right  down  her  throat.  As  for  giving  her 
son  some  of  these  nice  greenbacks,  no,  she  wouldn't 
do  that.  She  wouldn't  say:  'Here,  my  son,  you  who 
are  visited  by  sorrow,  here  is  some  cash  for  wine  and 
tobacco.'  " 

J  This  was  usually  followed  by  endless  cynical  talks 
about  how  he  could  win  over  his  mother's  heart. 

"In  Moscow,"  he  held  forth,  "I  used  to  meet  a  man 
who  knew  a  magic  лvord.  If  his  mother  refused  to 
give  him  money  he  would  utter  *the  word,'  and  she 
instantly  got  cramps  in  her  hands  and  feet,  in  fact  all 
over." 

"It  must  have  been  a  spell,  I  suppose,"  remarked  the 
village  clerk. 

"Well,  whatever  it  may  have  been,  it  is  gospel  truth 
that  there  is  such  a  *word.'  Another  man  told  me 
this :  'Take,'  he  says,  'a  frog,  and  put  it  into  an  ant- 
hill  at   midnight.     By   morning   the   ants    will   have 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  41 

gnawed  it  clean,  so  that  only  its  skeleton  will  be  left. 
Take  the  skeleton,  and  when  it  is  in  your  pocket  ask 
anything  you  wish  of  any  woman,  and  she  won't  re- 
fuse you." 

"Well,  that's  easy." 

"The  trouble  is,  one  must  first  damn  oneself  forever^ 
If  it  weren't  for  that,  the  old  hag  would  be  cringing 
before  me." 

Hours  on  end  were  spent  in  such  talk,  but  no  reme- 
dy was  found.  The  preliminary  condition  was  that 
you  either  had  to  call  a  curse  down  on  yourself,  or 
sell  your  soul  to  the  devil.  There  was  no  help.  Ste- 
pan  Vladimirych  had  to  go  on  living  under  his  mother's 
rule,  the  only  relief  coming  in  the  small  voluntary  con- 
tributions that  he  raised  from  the  village  officials  in 
the  form  of  tobacco,  tea,  and  sugar.  His  fare  con- 
sisted mainly  of  what  remained  from  his  mother's 
table,  and  as  Arina  Petrovna  was  moderate  to  the 
point  of  avarice,  his  board  was  meagre,  to  say  the 
least ;  which  was  all  the  more  painful  because  ever  since 
vodka  had  become  unattainable,  his  appetite  had  grown 
considerably  keener.  All  day  long  hunger  gnawed  at 
him,  and  his  sole  preoccupation  was  how  to  fill  his 
stomach.  He  awaited  the  hour  when  his  mother 
would  retire  for  a  rest,  then  sneaked  into  the  kitchen 
and  looked  into  the  servants'  quarters,  snatching  a 
bit  here,  a  bit  there.  Sometimes  he  would  sit  at  his 
open  window  watching  for  passers-by.  If  one  of  the 
serfs  came  along,  he  stopped  him  and  levied  toll  in  the 
form  of  an  egg,  a  curd-cake,  and  the  like. 

At  the  first  meeting  between  mother  and  son,  Arina 
Petrovna  briefly  explained  the  whole  program  of  his 
life. 

"Live  here,"  she  said.     "Here  is  a  shelter  for  you 


42  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

in  the  counting-house.  Your  meals  you  will  get  from 
my  table.  In  other  matters  you  will  have  to  put  up 
with  things  as  they  are.  There  were  never  any  dain- 
ties in  the  house,  and  I  shan't  change  my  ways  for 
your  sake.  Your  brothers  will  soon  arrive.  What- 
ever they  will  decide  about  you,  I  shall  carry  out.  I 
shall  take  no  sin  upon  my  soul.  Let  them  dispose  of 
your  fate.'^ 

He  looked  forward  to  his  brothers'  arrival  with  im- 
patience. Not  that  he  reflected  on  the  influence  their 
arrival  might  have  on  his  existence,  as  he  had  evidently 
decided  that  the  matter  was  not  worth  his  thought. 
The  only  thing  that  interested  him  was  whether  Pavel 
would  bring  him  tobacco  and  how  much. 

''Maybe  he'll  hand  me  over  some  coin,  too,"  he 
mused.  "Porfishka  the  Bloodsucker,  he  won't,  but 
Pavel  .  .  .  I'll  say  to  him :  'Brother,  give  a  soldier 
some  cash  for  wine.'  He'll  give  me  some.  He's  sure 
to." 

He  did  not  notice  the  passage  of  the  days,  nor  did 
he  feel  the  weight  of  his  absolute  idleness.  The  only 
time  he  was  lonesome  was  in  the  evenings,  because  the 
constable  left  at  eight,  and  Arina  Petrovna  did  not 
allow  her  son  any  candles,  on  the  ground  that  one 
can  walk  to  and  fro  without  light.  He  soon  became 
accustomed  to  the  dark  and  even  began  to  love  it,  for 
in  the  darkness  his  imagination  had  free  play  and  car- 
ried him  far,  far  away  from  the  dreary  place  which 
W'as  his  home.  In  those  hours  only  one  thing  dis- 
turbed him.  He  had  a  dull  pain  in  the  chest  and  his 
heart  palpitated  queerly,  especially  when  he  went  to 
bed.  Sometimes  he  jumped  out  of  bed  and  ran  about 
the  room,  clutching  the  left  side  of  his  chest. 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  43 

''I  wish  I  would  die,"  he  thought  at  such  moments. 
**But,  no,  I  shan't  die.     But  maybe  I  shall." 

One  morning  when  the  village  clerk  with  an  air  of 
mystery  reported  that  his  brothers  had  arrived  the 
night  before,  he  shuddered  and  grew  pale.  Some- 
thing childlike  suddenly  awoke  in  him.  He  felt  like 
running  to  the  house  to  see  how  his  brothers  were 
dressed,  and  find  out  what  beds  had  been  prepared 
for  them,  and  whether  they  had  travelling  cases  like 
one  he  had  seen  a  militia  captain  carrying,  and  hear 
how  they  would  talk  to  mother,  and  spy  out  what 
would  be  served  at  dinner.  ■  In  short,  a  desire  once 
more  arose  in  him  to  return  to  life,  which  so  persis- 
tently rejected  him,  to  fall  at  "dear  mamma's"  kneco, 
and  obtain  her  pardon.  Then  perhaps  he  would  eat 
the  fatted  calf  and  be  merry. 

The  house  Avas  still  quiet,  but  he  had  already  visited 
the  kitchen  and  found  out  that  the  following  courses 
had  been  ordered  for  dinner :  soup  with  fresh  cabbage, 
also  some  soup  left  over  from  yesterday,  cured  meat 
served  with  cutlets  of  chopped  meat  for  entree,  fried 
mutton  chops  and  four  snipes  for  the  roast,  and  rasp- 
berry pie  with  cream  for  dessert. 

''Yesterday's  soup,  cured  meat,  and  the  chops — that, 
brother,  is  for  me,"  he  said  to  the  cook.  "There  will 
be  no  pie  for  me,  I  guess." 

"For  your  mother  to  say,  sir." 

"Ah,  friend,  there  was  a  time  when  I  ate  snipe. 
Yes,  I  did.  Once  I  made  a  bet  with  Lieutenant  Gre- 
mykin  that  I  would  eat  fifteen  snipes  one  after  the 
other,  and  what  do  you  think?  I  won  the  bet.  After 
that  I  couldn't  look  at  snipe  for  a  month." 

"But  you  won't  refuse  to  have  some  now?" 

"She  wouldn't  let  me  have  any.     I  can't  see,  though, 


44  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

what  makes  her  so  stingy.  A  snipe  is  a  free  bird. 
You  don't  have  to  feed  it  or  look  after  it.  It  is  self- 
supporting.  She  doesn't  buy  snipes  any  more  than 
she  buys  sheep — and  yet !  The  hag  knows  snipe  tastes 
better  than  mutton.  That's  why  she  won't  let  me 
have  it.  She'd  rather  let  it  rot  than  give  it  to  me. 
What's  ordered  for  breakfast?" 

"Liver,  mushrooms  in  sour  cream,  and  custard." 
''Why  not  send  me  a  custard?     Do,  brother." 
"Well,  I'll  try  hard.     Let  me  tell  you,  sir.     When 
the  brothers  sit  down  to  breakfast,  you  send  the  vil- 
lage clerk  here.     He'll  fetch  you  a  couple  of  custards 
under  his  coat." 

Next  day  Stepan  Vladimirych  waited  the  entire 
morning  for  his  brothers,  but  they  did  not  arrive. 
Finally,  about  eleven  o'clock,  the  village  clerk  brought 
1:he  two  promised  custards  and  reported  that  the 
brothers  had  just  finished  breakfast  and  were  closeted 
with  Arina  Petrovna  in  her  bedroom. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Arina  Petrovna  received  her  sons  solemnly, 
weighed  down  by  grief.  Two  maids  supported  her 
under  the  armpits.  Her  grey  locks  streamed  out  from 
under  her  cap,  her  head  drooped,  and  shook  from  side 
to  side,  and  her  limbs  seemed  hardly  able  to  support 
her.  She  always  liked  to  play  the  part  of  a  venerable, 
careworn  mother  before  her  children,  moving  with 
difficulty  and  getting  her  maids  to  assist  her.  Simple 
Simon  called  such  solemn  receptions  high  mass,  her- 
self a  bishop,  and  the  maids,  Polka  and  Yulka,  mace- 
bearers.  As  it  was  late  at  night  the  interview  was 
almost  a  silent  one.  Without  saying  a  word  she  gave 
her  sons  her  hand  to  kiss;  kissed  them  in  turn,  and 
made  the  sign  of  the  cross  over  them ;  and  when  Por- 
firy  Vladimirych  made  it  clear  that  he  would  gladly 
spend  the  rest  of  the  night  with  "mother  dear,"  she 
merely  waved  her  hand  and  said: 

"Come  now.  Take  a  rest,  you  must  be  tired  after 
the  journey.  This  is  not  the  time  for  discussion. 
We  shall  talk  to-morrow." 

Next  morning  the  two  sons  went  to  kiss  papa's 
hand,  but  papa  refused  his  hand.  He  lay  on  his  bed 
with  closed  eyes,  and  when  they  entered  he  cried  out : 

"Have  you  come  to  judge  the  toll-gatherer?  Get 
out,  Pharisees!     Get  out!" 

45 


4б  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

But  in  spite  of  this  reception,  Porfiry  Vladimirych 
emerged  from  papa's  room  agitated  and  with  tears 
on  his  eyeHds,  while  Pavel  Vladimirych,  like  ''the 
heartless  dolt"  that  he  was,  merely  picked  his  nose. 

*'He  is  very  weak,  mother  dear,  very  weak!"  ex- 
claimed Porfiry  Vladimirych,  throwing  himself  on  his 
mother's  breast. 

"Is  it  so  bad?" 

"Yes,  very  bad.     He  won't  live  much  longer." 

"Oh,  well,  it  isn't  as  bad  as  that." 

"No,  dear,  no.  And  although  your  life  has  never 
been  too  joyful,  yet  as  I  think  how  Fate  deals  you  so 
many  blows  at  once,  upon  my  word,  I  wonder  where 
you  get  the  strength  to  bear  up  under  it  all." 

"Well,  my  friend,  the  strength  comes  if  such  is  the 

Lord's  will.     You  know  what  it  says  in  the  Scrip- 

Y  tures :  'Bear  one  another's  burdens.'    It  seems  that  our 

Heavenly  Father  has  chosen  me  to  bear  the  burdens 

of  my  family." 

Arina  Petrovna  shut  her  eyes,  so  delightful  was  this 
vision  of  the  family  finding  their  tables  covered  for 
them  and  of  her  toiling  for  them  and  bearing  their 
burdens. 

"Yes,  my  friend,"  she  said  after  a  minute's  pause, 
"it's  a  hard  life  I  lead  in  my  old  age.  I  have  provided 
for  my  children,  and  it  is  time  for  me  to  rest.  It's 
no  joke — four  thousand  souls!  At  my  age  to  take 
care  of  such  an  estate,  to  have  an  eye  on  everybody 
and  everything,  to  run  back  and  forth!  As  for  all 
those  bailiffs  and  managers,  they  look  you  straight  in 
the  eye,  but,  believe  me,  they  are  the  most  faithless 
kind.  And  you,"  she  interrupted  herself,  turning  to 
Pavel,  "what  are  you  digging  in  your  nose  for?" 

"What  have  I  to  do  with  it?"  snarled  Pavel  Vladi- 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  47 

mirych,  disturbed  in  the  very  midst  of  his  absorbing 
occupation. 

''What  do  you  mean?  After  all,  he's  your  father. 
You  might  find  a  word  of  pity  for  him." 

''Well — a  father!  A  father  like  any  other  father. 
He  has  been  that  way  for  ten  years.  You  always 
make  things  unpleasant  for  me." 

"Why  in  the  world  should  I,  my  boy?  I  am  your 
mother.  Here  is  Porfisha.  He  has  found  words  of 
affection  and  pity  for  me  as  befits  a  good  son,  but  you 
don't  even  look  at  your  mother  properly.  You  look  at 
her  out  of  the  corner  of  your  eye,  as  if  she  were  not 
your  mother,  but  your  foe.     Please  don't  bite  me." 

"Well,  what " 

"Stop !  Hold  your  tongue  for  a  minute.  Let  your 
mother  say  a  word.  Do  you  remember  the  command- 
ment, 'Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother,  and  all  will 
be  well  with  thee?'  Am  I  to  understand  that  you 
don't  wish  to  be  well?" 

Pavel  Vladimirych  kept  silence  and  looked  at  his 
mother  in  perplexity. 

"You  see,  you're  silenced,"  went  on  Arina  Petrov- 
na,  "you  are  guilty.  But  I  shall  let  you  alone.  For 
the  sake  of  this  joyful  meeting  we  shall  dispense  with 
this  talk.  God,  my  child,  sees  everything.  As  for 
me,  I  see  you  through  and  through,  and  I  always  have. 
Children,  children,  you  will  remember  your  mother 
when  she  lies  in  her  grave.  You  will  remember  her, 
but  it  will  be  too  late." 

"Mamma  dear!"  interposed  Porfiry  Vladimirych. 
"Away  with  such  black  thoughts,  away  with 
them !" 

"We  must  all  die,"  said  Arina  Petrovna  senten- 
tiously.     "These  are  not  black,   but  pious   thoughts. 


48  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

I'm  growing  weak,  children,  oh,  how  weak !  Debility 
and  ailments  are  the  only  things  left  of  my  former 
strength.  Even  the  maids  have  noticed  it,  and  they 
don't  care  a  rap  for  me.  If  I  say  one  word,  they 
have  ten  in  reply.  I  have  only  one  threat,  that  I 
shall  complain  to  the  young  masters.  That  works 
sometimes." 

Tea  was  served  and  then  breakfast,  during  which 
Arina  Petrovna  continued  her  complaining  and  self- 
pitying.  After  breakfast  she  invited  her  sons  to  her 
bedroom. 

When  the  door  was  locked,  she  went  straight  to 
the  business  for  which  she  had  convoked  the  family 
council. 

"Simple  Simon  is  here,"  she  began. 

"We  heard  about  it,  mamma  dear,"  said  Porfiry 
Vladimirych ;  and  it  was  hard  to  say  whether  it  was 
irony  or  the  calm  complacency  of  a  man  who  has  just 
eaten  a  hearty  meal  that  sounded  in  his  voice. 

"He  has  come  here  as  if  that  were  the  proper  thing 
to  do.  Whatever  he  may  have  done,  he  seems  to 
think  the  old  mother  will  always  have  bread  for  him. 
Think  of  all  his  hatred  for  me,  of  all  the  trouble  his 
tricks  and  buffoonery  have  caused  me.  And  what 
have  I  not  done  to  get  him  a  good  berth?  It  all  ran 
off  like  water  from  a  duck's  back.  At  last,  I  made 
up  my  mind.  Goodness,  if  he  cannot  take  care  of 
himself,  am  I  to  ruin  my  life  on  account  of  the  big 
lout  ?  I'll  give  him  a  piece  of  the  property,  I  decided. 
Perhaps,  I  thought,  once  an  independent  proprietor 
he'll  sober  down.  No  sooner  said  than  done.  I  my- 
self found  a  house  for  him  and  paid  out  twelve  thou- 
sand silver  rubles  for  it  with  my  own  hands.  And 
what's  the  upshot?     After  less  than  three  years  he's 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  49 

hanging  round  my  neck  again.     How  long  am  I  to 
stand  such  insults?" 

Porfisha  lifted  up  his  eyes  and  shook  his  head  sor- 
rowfully, as  if  to  say,  'Tine  doings.  Why  disturb 
mother  dear  so  ruthlessly?  Why  not  live  peacefully 
and  quietly?  Then  dear  mamma  would  not  be  angry. 
Fine  doings."  But  Porfisha's  gestures  did  not  please 
Arina  Petrovna,  who  objected  to  any  interruption  to 
the  course  of  her  thoughts. 

*'Wait  a  minute,"  she  said,  "don't  shake  your  head. 
Listen  first.  Think  of  mv  feelino;s  when  I  learned 
that  he  had  thrown  away  his  parental  blessing  like  a 
gnawed  bone  into  a  cesspool.  Think  how  he  outraged 
me,  me,  who  for  years  refused  myself  sleep  and  food. 
He  has  done  to  his  patrimony  what  one  would  do  to  a 
bauble  bought  at  a  fair." 

''Oh,  mother  dear,  what  a  shame,  what,  a  shame !" 
began  Porfiry  Vladimirych,  but  Arina  Petrovna 
stopped  him  again. 

"Wait  a  minute.  Let  me  have  your  opinion  when 
I  order  you  to.  If  at  least  the  scoundrel  had  come 
to  me  in  time  and  said :  T  am  guilty,  dear  mamma,  I 
couldn't  restrain  myself,'  I  might  have  bought  the 
house  back  for  a  song.  The  unworthy  son  did  not 
know  how  to  make  use  of  the  property.  Perhaps  the 
worthier  children  would.  The  house  easily  brought  in 
fifteen  per  cent,  income  yearly.  Maybe  I  would  have 
thrown  him  out  another  thousand  rubles  in  his  distress. 
But  instead,  he  disposed  of  the  property  without  so 
much  as  saying  a  word  to  me.  With  my  own  hands, 
I  paid  out  twelve  thousand  rubles  for  the  house,  and 
it  was  sold  at  auction  for  eight  thousand  rubles !" 

"The  main  thing,  dear  mamma,  is  that  he  has  dealt 
so  basely  with  the  parental  blessing,"   Porfiry  inter- 


50  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

jected  hastily,  as  if  afraid  of  being  stopped  again. 
"Yes,  that's  so,  too.  My  money  does  not  come 
lightly.  I  have  earned  it  with  the  sweat  of  my  brow. 
When  I  married  your  father,  all  he  owned  was  the 
estate  of  Golovliovo  with  one  hundred  and  one  souls, 
and  a  few  more  souls  scattered  in  distant  estates,  a 
hundred  and  fifty  in  all.  As  for  me,  I  had  nothing 
at  all.  Now  look  what  an  estate  I  have  built  up  on 
that  foundation.  There  are  four  thousand  souls, 
not  a  single  one  less.  I  can't  take  them  into  the  grave 
with  me.  Do  you  think  it  was  an  easy  task  to  scrape 
four  thousand  souls  together?  No,  dear  child,  not 
easy,  far  from  easy.  I  spent  many  a  sleepless  night 
trying  to  work  out  a  good  business  scheme,  so  that  no 
one  should  smell  it  out  and  stand  in  my  way.  And 
what  have  I  not  endured  in  my  business  travels?  I 
have  had  plenty  of  hard  road  and  bad  weather  and 
slippery  ice.  It  is  only  lately  that  I  allow  myself  the 
luxury  of  a  coach.  In  former  times  I  rode  in  a  plain 
two-horse  peasant's  cart  with  a  cover  put  on  extra  for 
me;'  It  was  in  nothing  but  a  cart  that  I  used  to  go  to 
Moscow.  And  the  filth  and  stench  I  had  to  put  up 
with  in  the  Moscow  inns !  I  begrudged  myself  the 
dime  for  the  cabby,  and  I  walked  all  the  way  from 
Rogozhskaya  Street  to  Solyanka.  The  house-porter 
would  say  to  me  wonderingly :  ''Mistress,  they  say  ycu 
are  young  and  Avell-to-do,  why  do  you  work  so  hard  ?" 
But  I  was  silent  and  patient.  At  first  all  I  had  at  my 
disposal  were  thirty  thousand  rubles  in  bank  notes. 
I  sold  your  father's  remote  estates  with  their  one  hun- 
dred souls,  and  with  what  I  realized  from  the  sale  I 
set  out  to  buy  a  property  with  a  thousand  souls.  I 
had  a  mass  said  at  the  Iverska  Church  and  went  to 
Solyanka  to  try  my  luck.     What  do  you  think  hap- 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  51 

pened?  The  Holy  Virgin  must  have  seen  my  bitter 
tears.  She  helped  me  buy  the  estate.  It  was  like  a 
miracle.  The  instant  I  bid  thirty  thousand  rubles 
the  auction  came  to  an  end.  There  had  been  a  lot  of 
noise  and  excitement,  but  then  the  people  stopped 
bidding,  and  it  was  as  quiet  as  could  be.  The 
auctioneer  got  up  and  congratulated  me.  I  was  dum- 
founded.  Ivan  Nikolaich,  the  lawyer,  came  over  to 
me  and  said:  'Let  me  congratulate  you,  madam,  on 
your  purchase.'  But  I  stood  there  stiff  as  a  post. 
How  great  is  God's  mercy !  Think  of  it,  if  in  my  con- 
fusion someone  had  called  out  just  for  spite,  T  bid 
thirty-five  thousand,'  I  should  certainly  have  offered 
every  bit  of  forty  thousand.  And  where  would  I 
have  gotten  the  money  from?" 

Many  a  time  before  had  Arina  Petrovna  regaled  her 
children  with  the  epical  beginnings  of  her  career  of 
acquisition.  It  had  never  lost  the  charm  of  novelty 
for  them.  Porfiry  Vladimirych  listened  smiling,  sigh- 
ing, turning  up  his  eye-balls,  lowering  them,  to  the 
tune  of  the  rapid  changes  through  which  the  tale 
passed.  As  for  Pavel  Vladimirych,  he  sat  with  wide- 
open  eyes,  like  a  child,  listening  to  a  familiar,  yet  ever- 
fascinating  fairy  tale. 

"Do  you  think  your  mother  built  up  her  fortune 
without  trouble  ?"  went  on  Arina  Petrovna.  *Tt  takes 
trouble  even  to  make  a  pimple  on  your  nose.  After 
the  first  purchase  I  was  laid  up  with  fever  for  six 
weeks.  So  judge  for  yourselves  how  it  must  make 
my  heart  ache  to  see  my  hard-earned  money,  money 
I  went  through  torments  to  get,  you  may  say,  thrown 
out  into  the  gutter  for  no  earthly  reason." 

There  was  a  minute's  pause.  Porfiry  Vladimirych 
was  ready  to  rend  his  garments,  but  refrained,  fear- 


7 


52  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

ing  there  would  be  no  one  in  the  village  to  mend  them. 
Pavel  Vladimirych,  as  soon  as  the  fairy  tale  was  over, 
fell  back  into  his  wюnted  apathy,  and  his  face  resumed 
its  customary  dull  expression. 

*That  is  why  I  asked  you  to  come  here,"  began 
Arina  Petrovna  anew.  "Now  judge  us,  me  and  the 
villain.  Whatever  you  decide  will  be  done.  If  you 
condemn  him,  he  will  be  guilty.  If  you  condemn  me,  I 
shall  be  guilty.  Only  I  shall  not  allow  the  rascal  to 
get  the  better  of  me,"  she  added,  quite  unexpectedly. 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  felt  his  turn  had  come,  and 
he  prepared  to  hold  forth,  but  approached  the  subject 
in  a  roundabout  way. 

"If  you  Avill  permit  me,  dearest  mother,  to  express 
my  opinion,"  he  said,  "here  it  is  in  two  words :  chil- 
dren must  obey  their  parents,  blindly  do  their  bidding, 
cherish  them  in  their  old  age.  That's  all !  What  are 
children,  dear  mother?  Children  are  loving  creatures 
who  owe  their  parents  everything,  from  their  persons 
to  the  last  rag  they  possess.  Therefore,  parents  may 
judge  children,  while  children  may  never  judge  parents. 
Children  are  in  duty  bound  to  respect,  not  to  judge. 
You  say:  *Judge  us.*  That  is  magnanimous  of  you, 
dear  mother,  ;«G^nificent!  But  how  can  we  think 
about  it  without  fear,  we  whom  from  the  first  day  of 
our  birth  you  have  been  clothing  with  kindness  from 
head  to  foot?  Say  what  you  may,  it  would  not  be 
judgment  but  blasphemy.  It  w^uld  be  such  blas- 
phemy, such  blasphemy " 

"Stop,  wait  a  minute.  If  you  say  you  cannot  sit 
in  judgment  on  me,  acquit  me  and  condemn  him/' 
Arina  Petrovna  interrupted.  She  was  listening  and 
trying  to  search  his  meaning,  but  could  not  make  out 
what  new  plot  was  back  of  the  Bloodsucker's  mind. 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  53 

"No,  mother  dear,  even  that  I  cannot  do,  or  rather 
I  don't  dare  to.  I  have  no  right  to.  I  can  neither 
acquit  nor  condemn.  I  simply  cannot  judge.  You 
are  the  mother;  you  alone  know  how  to  deal  with  us 
children.  You  have  the  right  to  reward  us  if  we  de- 
serve it,  and  chastise  us  if  we  are  guilty.  Our  duty 
is  not  to  criticise,  but  to  obey.  And  if  at  the  moment 
of  parental  wrath  you  exceed  the  measure  of  justice, 
even  then  we  dare  not  grumble,  for  the  ways  of  Provi- 
dence are  hidden  from  us.  Who  knows,  perhaps  it 
was  necessary.  Our  brother  Stepan  has  acted  basely, 
unspeakably,  but  you  alone  can  determine  the  degree 
of  punishment  he  deserves." 

''Then  you  refuse  to  help  me?  You  would  have 
me  get  out  of  this  affair  as  best  I  can?'* 

"Oh,  dearest,  dearest,  how  you  misunderstood  me! 
Goodness,  goodness !  I  said,  that  however  you  might 
be  pleased  to  dispose  of  brother  Stepan's  fate,  so 
shall  it  be,  and  you — what  horrible  thoughts  you  as- 
cribe to  me." 

"All  right.  And  you?"  she  turned  to  Pavel  Vladi- 
mirych. 

"Do  you  want  my  opinion  ?  But  what's  my  opinion 
to  you?"  said  he,  as  if  only  half-awake.  However,  he 
braced  himself  unexpectedly  and  went  on :  "Of  course, 
he's  guilty.  Have  him  torn  to  pieces — ground  to  dust 
in  a  mortar — it's  settled  in  advance.  What  am  I  in 
this?" 

Having  mumbled  these  incoherent  words,  he  stopped 
and  stared  at  his  mother,  his  mouth  wide  open,  as  if 
not  trusting  his  own  ears. 

"Well,  my  dear,  I  shall  speak  to  you  later,"  Arina 
Petrovna  cut  him  off  coldly.  "I  see  that  you  are  anx- 
ious to  tread  in  Stiopka's  tracks.     Take    care,    my 


54  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

child.      You   will    repent,   but   it   will   be   too   late." 

"Why,  what's  the  matter  ?    Гт  not  saying  anything. 
'X'    I  say,  just  as  you  please.    What  is  there  disrespectful 
in  that?"  said  Pavel  Vladimirych,  faintly. 

"I'll  talk  with  you  later  on,  my  boy,  later  on.  You 
think  because  you  are  an  army  officer,  you  can  run 
wild.  You  are  greatly  mistaken.  Then  neither  of 
you  wants  to  sit  in  judgment?" 

"I,  dearest  mother " 

"What  am  I  in  this?"  said  Pavel  Vladimirych. 
"I  don't  care.     Have  him  torn  to  pieces." 

"Hold  your  tongue,  for  Christ's  sake,  you  wicked 
man!"  Arina  Petrovna  felt  she  was  fully  entitled 
to  call  her  son  "scoundrel,"  but  refrained  in  deference 
to  the  joyous  meeting.  "Well,  if  you  refuse  to  judge 
him  I  shall.  Here  is  my  verdict.  I  shall  try  to  treat 
him  kindly  once  more.  I  shall  hand  over  to  him  the 
little  Vologda  village,  have  a  cottage  built  there,  and 
let  him  live  there  and  be  fed  by  the  peasants." 

Although  Porfiry  Vladimirych  had  refused  to  sit 
in  judgment  on  his  brother,  his  mother's  gener- 
osity was  so  amazing  that  he  felt  he  simply  had  to 
point  out  the  dangerous  consequences  of  her  pro- 
ject. 

"Dearest  mamma,"  he  exclaimed,  "you  are  more 
than  magnanimous.  You  are  confronted  by  a  deed — 
well,  the  vilest,  meanest  deed — and  then  you  forget 
and  pardon.  Magnificent !  But  forgive  me,  I  am 
afraid  for  you,  dearest.  Think  what  you  will  of  me, 
but  if  I  were  you,  I  wouldn't  do  it." 
i      "Why  not?" 

"I  don't  know.  Perhaps  I  lack  your  magnanimity, 
that  motherly  feeling  of  yours.  But  one  thought 
comes  back  to  me  all  the  while — what  if  brother  Ste- 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  55 

pan  does  the  same  with  his  second  legacy  as  he  did 
with  his  first  ?" 

Arina  Petrovna  had  already  thought  of  that,  yet  in 
the  back  of  her  mind  was  another  consideration. 

'The  Vologda  estate  is  father's  property,  it  belongs 
to  the  patrimony,"  she  said  through  her  teeth. 
''Sooner  or  later  a  portion  of  the  patrimony  will  have 
to  be  doled  out  to  him." 

"I  understand  that  very  well,  mother  dear." 

"Then  you  also. understand  that  on  giving  him  the 
Vologda  village  we  can  make  him  sign  a  document 
to  the  effect  that  he  has  received  his  full  share  and  that 
he  renounces  all  further  inheritance  claims." 

'T  understand  that  too,  dearest  mother.  Your  ex- 
cessive kindness  caused  you  to  commit  a  grave  mis- 
take. At  the  time  you  bought  him  the  house  you 
ought  to  have  made  him  give  you  such  a  document 
then." 

"Yes,  that  was  a  blunder." 

"At  that  time,  in  his  joy,  he  would  have  signed  any 
document.  But  you,  dearest,  in  the  kindness  of  your 
heart — goodness,  what  a  mistake!  What  a  mis- 
take !" 

"Don't  talk  of  it  any  more.  Why  didn't  you  speak 
up  before  it  was  too  late?  Now  you  are  ready  to 
blame  everything  on  your  mother,  but  when  it  comes 
to  business,  you  are  not  there.  However,  it  isn't  the 
document  I  have  in  mind.  I  can  make  him  sign  it 
even  now.  Papa,  I  suppose,  isn't  going  to  die  at  once. 
Until  his  death  the  blockhead  must  live  on  something. 
In  case  he  refuses  to  sign,  we  can  chase  him  out  and 
bid  him  wait  for  papa's  death.  No,  what  I  want  to 
know  is,  do  you  dislike  my  idea  of  giving  him  the 
Vologda  estate?" 


56  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"He  will  squander  away  the  village,  darling,  as  he 
did  the  house." 

"If  he  does,  let  him  blame  himself." 

"He'll  come  back  to  you,  again,  to  no  one 
else." 

"Oh,  no,  I  won't  stand  for  it.  I  won't  let  him  come 
near  my  threshold.  There  won't  be  a  drink  of  water 
for  him  in  my  house.  And  people  won't  condemn  me 
for  it,  nor  will  God  punish  me.  To  squander  away 
first  a  house,  then  an  estate!  Am  I  his  slave?  Is 
he  the  only  one  I  have  to  provide  for?  Have  I  not 
other  children?" 

"Still,  it  is  to  you  that  he  will  come.  Isn't  he  bra- 
zen-faced enough  to  do  that,  darling  mamma?" 

"I  tell  you,  I  won't  let  him  come  near  my  threshold. 
Why  do  you  sit  there  croaking,  Ъе'И  come,  he'll  come  ?' 
I  won't  let  him  in." 

Arina  Petrovna  grew  silent  and  fixed  her  gaze  on 
the  window.  She  herself  vaguely  realized  that  the 
Vologda  estate  would  only  temporarily  free  her  from 
"the  horrid  creature,"  that  in  the  end  he  would  dispose 
of  it,  too,  and  would  return  to  her  again,  and  that  as  a 
mother  she  could  not  refuse  him  a  corner  in  her  house. 
But  the  thought  that  the  odious  fellow  would  al- 
ways be  with  her,  that  even  though  locked  up  in  the 
counting-house  he  would  be  preying  on  her  imagina- 
tion like  a  spook,  was  so  appalling  that  she  shuddered 
involuntarily. 

"Not  for  the  world!"  she  exclaimed,  striking  the 
table  with  her  fist  and  leaping  to  her  feet. 

Meanwhile,  Porfiry  Vladimirych  kept  on  staring  at 
"mother  dear"  and  shaking  his  head  rhythmically  in 
token  of  condolence. 

"I  see  you  are  angry,  dearest  mamma,"  he  said  at 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  57 

last  in  a  tone  so  sugared  that  he  seemed  to  be  getting 
ready  to  tickle  Arina  Petrovna. 

"What  would  you  have  me  do?     Dance  a  jig?" 

"Excuse  me,  darling,  but  what  do  the  Scriptures 
say  about  patience?  'In  patience,'  it  says,  'possess  ye 
your  souls/  'In  patience' — that's  the  word.  Do  you 
think  God  does  not  see?  He  sees  everything,  mother 
dear.  We  perhaps  don't  suspect  anything,  we  sit  here 
proposing  this  and  planning  that,  while  He  may  al- 
ready have  disposed.  Oh,  dearest  mamma,  Ьолу  un- 
just you  are  to  me." 

But  Arina  Petrovna  was  fully  aware  that  the  Blood- 
sucker was  throAving  a  snare,  and  she  flew  into  a  rage. 

"Are  you  making  sport  of  me?"  she  shouted.  "I 
am  discussing  business,  and  he's  trying  to  hoax  me. 
Don't  pull  the  wool  over  my  eyes.  Speak  plainly. 
Do  you  want  him  to  remain  at  Golovliovo,  hanging 
around  his  mother's  neck?" 

"Just  so,  dearest  mother,  if  you  please.  Let  him 
be  where  he  is  and  make  him  sign  a  paper  about  the 
heritage." 

"So,  so.  I  knew  that  was  what  you  would  advise. 
All  right.  God  alone  knows  how  it  will  pain  me  al- 
ways to  be  having  that  creature  around.  However, 
it  seems  nobody  will  take  pity  on  me.  When  I  was 
young  I  bore  my  cross.  Shall  I  refuse  it  in  my  old 
age?  But  there  is  still  another  point.  While  papa 
and  I  are  alive,  he'll  live  at  Golovliovo,  and  we  won't 
let  him  starve.     But  how  about  afterwards?" 

"Dearest  mother!  Darling!  Why  such  melan- 
choly thoughts?"  cried  the  Bloodsucker. 

"Melancholy  or  not,  still  one  has  to  provide  ahead. 
We  aren't  babies.  When  we  die,  what  will  become 
of  him?" 


'58  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"Dearest  mother!  Can't  you  count  on  us,  your 
children?  Have  we  not  been  properly  brought  up  by 
you?" 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  flashed  on  her  one.  of  those 
puzzling  glances  which  had  always  made  her  uneasy, 
and  went  on: 

"The  poor  man,  dear  mamma,  I  shall  help  with 
greater  joy  than  the  rich.  The  rich  man,  Christ  be 
with  him,  the  rich  man  has  enough  of  his  own.  But 
the  poor  man — you  know  what  Christ  said  of  the 
poor." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  got  up  and  kissed  his  mother's 
hand. 

"Dearest  mamma,  allow  me  to  present  my  brother 
with  two  pounds  of  tobacco,"  he  said  entreatingly. 

Arina  Petrovna  did  not  answer.  She  looked  at  him 
and  reflected:  "Is  he  ~^V  such  a  Bloodsucker  that 
he  would  turn  his  own  b  r  out  on  the  streets?" 

"Well,  do  as  you  pleac.^.  Let  him  live  at  Golov- 
liovo,"  she  said  finally,  turning  to  Porfiry.  "You  have 
trapped  me.  You  started  with  *just  as  you  please, 
dearest  mamma,'  and  finished  by  dancing  me  on  your 
.^  wire.  But  let  me  tell  you  this,  I  hate  him  and  he  has 
P  disgraced  and  pestered  me  all  his  life,  he  has  even 
dishonored  my  motherly  blessing.  Nevertheless,  if 
you  turn  him  out  into  the  streets  or  make  a  beggar  of 
him,  you  shall  not  have  my  blessing.  No,  no,  no. 
Now  you  two  go  to  him.  The  idiot  is  wearing  out 
his  silly  eyes  looking  for  you." 

The  sons  left.  Arina  Petrovna  rose  and  watched 
them  stride  over  the  front  yard  to  the  counting-house 
without  exchanging  a  word.  Porfiry  was  constantly 
taking  off  his  cap  and  crossing  himself,  now  at  the 
sight  of  the  church,  which  shimmered  afar  off,  now 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  59 

before  the  chapel,  now  before  the  wooden  post  to 
which  a  charity  box  was  attached.  As  for  Pavel,  he 
seemed  unable  to  take  his  eyes  off  his  boot  tips  shining 
in  the  sunlight. 

'Tor  whom  have  I  been  accumulating  riches?  Re- 
fused myself  sleep  and  food — for  whom?"  she  cried 
bitterly. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  brothers  departed,  and  the  manor-house  of  Go- 
lovliovo  was  deserted.  With  renewed  energy,  Arina 
Petrovna  took  up  her  work  again.  The  clatter  of 
the  knives  in  the  kitchen  ceased,  but  activities  in  office, 
storehouses,  cellars,  were  redoubled.  Summer,  the 
great  provider,  was  nearly  over;  preserving,  canning, 
pickling,  storing  were  in  full  swing.  Winter  pro- 
visions flowed  in  from  all  quarters,  dried  mushrooms, 
berries,  eggs,  vegetables.  This  requisition  in  kind 
imposed  upon  the  peasant  women  came  in  wagons  from 
all  the  various  family  estates.  Everything  was  meas- 
ured and  added  to  the  stores  of  former  years.  Not 
in  vain  had  the  lady  of  Golovliovo  had  a  long  row  of 
cellars,  storehouses  and  granaries  built.  They  were 
full  to  the  brim.  Quite  a  good  deal  of  damaged  ma- 
terial was  along  with  the  rest  and  smelt  foully.  At  the 
end  of  summer  the  stuff  was  all  sorted  and  what  was 
suspicious  was  sent  to  the  servants'  quarters. 

'^The  pickles  are  still  in  good  condition,  only  the 
skin  is  coming  off  in  some  places,  and  they  smell  a 
little.  Well,  let  the  servants  enjoy  a  dainty  bit," 
Arina  Petrovna  would  say,  pointing  out  the  barrels  to 
be  put  aside. 

Stepan  Vladimirych  adapted  himself  admirably  to 
his  new  condition.     At  times  he  felt  a  strong  craving 

60 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  6i 

to  get  drunk  as  a  piper.  He  had  money  for  the  pur- 
pose, as  we  shall  see  later.  But  he  restrained  himself 
stoically,  as  if  considering  that  the  time  had  not  yet 
arrived.  He  was  always  busy  now,  for  he  took  a 
lively  part  in  the  provisioning,  rejoicing  in  its  suc- 
cesses and  regretting  its  failures  in  a  wholly  disin- 
terested manner.  In  a  sort  of  ecstasy,  hatless,  clad 
in  his  dressing-gown,  he  scurried  from  the  office  to 
the  cellars,  hiding  from  his  mother  behind  trees  and 
various  small  buildings  that  crowded  the  court-yard. 
Arina  Petrovna  noticed  him  in  this  garb  many  times, 
and  felt  an  itching  in  her  motherly  heart  to  give 
Simple  Simon  a  severe  scolding,  but  on  second  thought 
she  left  him  alone  in  his  escapades.  In  the  cellars 
Stepan  Vladimirych  with  feverish  impatience  watched 
how  the  carts  were  unloaded,  how  jars,  barrels  and 
tubs  were  brought  in  from  the  estate,  and  everything 
was  assorted  and  finally  sent  off  into  the  yawning  abyss 
of  cellars  and  storehouses.  He  felt  satisfied  in  most 
instances. 

^'To-day  two  wagons  of  mushrooms  came  from 
Dubrovino.  Ripping  fine  mushrooms,  brother,"  he 
informed  the  village  clerk  rapturously.  "And  we  were 
afraid  we  should  have  to  get  along  without  mushrooms 
this  winter.  Bravo,  Dubrovino  fellow,  much  obliged! 
Fine  fellows  they  are!     They  have  helped  us  out!" 

On  another  occasion,  he  said : 

'To-day  mother  gave  an  order  to  catch  some  carps 
in  the  pond.  You  ought  to  see  them !  Some  three 
feet  long!  It  looks  as  if  we  were  going  to  live  on 
carp  the  whole  week." 

Sometimes  he  was  worried. 

"The  cucumbers  failed  completely  this  season.  There 
is  not  a  good  one  among  them — all  crooked  and  spotty. 


б2  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

They're  just  good  enough  to  be  sent  to  the  servants' 
quarters.     We  shall  have  to  use  last  year's." 

He  did  not  approve  of  Arina  Petrovna's  manage- 
ment. "Goodness,  what  heaps  of  provisions  she  al- 
lows to  rot !  Just  now  she's  having  cured  meat,  pickles, 
fish  and  what  not  hauled  to  the  servants'  quarters.  Is 
that  what  you  call  good  business?  Is  that  the  right 
way  of  doing  things,  I'd  like  to  know.  There  are 
lots  of  fresh  provisions,  but  she  will  not  touch  them 
until  the  old  rot  is  eaten  up." 

The  confidence  entertained  by  Arina  Petrovna  that 
it  would  be  easy  to  induce  Simple  Simon  to  sign  any 
paper  proved  wholly  justified.  Not  only  did  he  not 
object  to  signing  all  the  papers  that  his  mother  sent 
him,  but  the  same  evening  he  even  boasted  about  it 
to  the  village  clerk. 

"Well,  brother,  to-day  I  have  been  doing  nothing 
but  signing  papers.  I  have  renounced  all  my  rights 
of  inheritance.  I  am  cleaned  out.  Not  a  cent  to 
my  name,  and  none  coming.  I  have  set  the  old 
woman  at  ease." 

He  parted  with  his  brothers  peaceably,  and  was  in 
raptures  over  his  big  supply  of  tobacco.  Of  course, 
he  couldn't  help  calling  Porfisha  Bloodsucker  and  Yu- 
dushka,  but  the  disparaging  terms  were  drowned  in 
a  deluge  of  incoherent,  meaningless  chatter. 

In  taking  leave  the  brothers  became  liberal  and  even 
gave  him  money.  Porfiry  Vladimirych  accompanied 
his  gift  with  the  following  speech : 

"This  money  will  be  handy  in  case  you  need  oil 
for  the  ikon  lamp  or  if  you  want  to  set  up  a  candle 
in  the  church.  That's  how  it  is,  brother.  Be  good 
and  gentle,  and  our  dear  mother  will  be  satisfied. 
You  will  have  your  comforts,  and  all  of  us  will  be 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  63 

merry  and  happy.  Our  mother  is  a  kindly  soul,  you 
know." 

'There  is  no  denying  that  she  is  kindly,"  agreed 
Stepan  Vladimirych.  "Only  she  feeds  me  on  rotten 
pickled  meat." 

"Whose  fault  is  it?  Who  treated  mother's  bless- 
ing with  disrespect?  It  is  your  own  fault  that  you 
lost  your  estate.  What  a  nice  little  estate  it  was. 
If  you  only  knew  how  to  behave  yourself  and  live 
modestly,  you  would  now  be  eating  beef  and  veal  and 
even  ordering  sauce  with  them.  You  would  have 
plenty  of  everything,  potatoes,  cabbage,  peas.  Am 
I  not  right,  brother?" 

Had  Arina  Petrovna  heard  this  harangue,  it  would 
have  made  her  impatient,  and  she  would  have  let  the 
orator  know  that  it  did.  But  Simple  Simon  was  for- 
tunate that  his  mind  could  not,  as  it  were,  retain 
other  people's  words,  and  not  a  syllable  of  Yudushka's 
speech  reached  its  destination. 

So  Stepan  Vladimirych  parted  with  his  brothers 
amicably.  And  there  was  some  vanity  in  his  showing 
Yakov,  the  village  clerk,  two  twenty-five  ruble  notes 
that  had  been  left  in  his  hands  after  the  brothers  had 
departed. 

"This  will  last  me  a  long  time,"  he  said.  "We've 
got  tobacco.  W^e're  well  provided  with  tea  and  sugar. 
Nothing  is  missing  but  vodka.  However,  should  we 
want  vodka,  we'll  get  vodka,  too.  Nevertheless,  I  will 
restrain  myself  for  a  little  while  yet.  I  am  too  busy 
now,  I  have  to  keep  an  eye  on  the  cellars.  Weaken 
your  watch  for  a  single  instant,  and  everything  will 
be  pillaged.  She  saw  me,  brother,  she  saw  me,  the 
hag,  once,  w^hen  I  was  gliding  by  along  the  kitchen 
wall.     She  stood  at  the  window  looking  at  me  and  I 


б4  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

bet  she  thought:  'Well,  well,  so  that's  why  I  miss  so 
many  cucumbers.'  " 

Then  came  October.  It  began  to  rain,  the  road 
turned  black,  into  an  impassable  stream  of  mud.  Ste- 
pan  Vladimirych  could  not  go  out  because  his  only 
garments  were  his  father's  old  dressing-gown  and 
worn  slippers.  He  sat  at  his  window  w^atching  the 
tiny,  humble  village  drowned  in  mud.  There,  in  the 
gray  autumn  mist,  men  were  moving  about  briskly, 
looking  like  black  dots. 

The  heavy  summer  work  was  still  in  full  swing, 
but  now  its  setting  was  no  longer  the  jubilant,  sun- 
flooded  hues  of  summer,  but  the  endless  autumn  twi- 
light. The  corn  kilns  emitted  clouds  of  smoke  far 
into  the  night.  The  melancholy  clatter  of  the  flails  re- 
sounded in  the  air.  Thrashing  was  also  going  on  in 
the  manorial  barns,  and  in  the  office  they  said  it  would 
hardly  be  possible  to  get  through  with  the  whole  mass 
of  grain  before  Shrovetide.  Everything  looked 
gloomy  and  drowsy,  everything  spoke  of  oppressive- 
ness. The  doors  of  the  counting-house  were  no  longer 
ajar,  and  inside  the  air  was  filled  with  a  bluish  fog 
rising  from  the  wet  fur  cloaks. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  what  impression  this  spectacle 
j^  of  a  toilsome,  rural  autumn  made  on  Stepan's  mind, 
and  whether  he  was  at  all  aware  of  the  labors  going 
on  in  the  incessant  rain  out  in  the  boggy  fields.  One 
thing  is  certain,  that  the  drab,  tearful  autumn  sky 
oppressed  him.  It  seemed  to  hang  close  down  over 
his  head  and  threaten  to  drown  him  in  a  deluge  of 
mud.  All  he  had  to  do  was  to  look  out  through  the 
window  and  w^atch  the  heavy  masses  of  clouds.  From 
the  dawn  on  they  covered  the  heavens,  hanging  mo- 
tionless as  if  spellbound.     Even  after  several  hours 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  65 

they  were  still  in  the  same  place,  without  the  slightest 
apparent  change  in  hue  or  outline.  In  the  morning, 
one  cloud,  heavy  and  black,  had  a  ragged  shape  re- 
sembling a  priest  in  a  cassock  with  outstretched  arms. 
It  was  clearly  outlined  on  the  pallid  background  of 
the  upper  clouds,  and  at  noon  it  still  had  the  identi- 
cally same  form.  The  right  hand,  it  is  true,  had  be- 
come shorter,  and  the  left  was  stretched  out  in  an 
ugly  fashion  and  was  sending  down  such  a  flood  of 
rain  that  against  the  dark  background  of  the  sky 
there  formed  a  streak  still  darker,  almost  black.  An- 
other huge  shaggy  lump  of  a  cloud  a  little  farther  up 
hung  over  the  village,  threatening  to  smother  it,  you 
would  think.  Hours  later  it  was  still  hanging  in  the 
same  place,  the  same  shaggy  monster  with  outstretched 
paws,  as  though  ready  to  pounce  upon  the  earth.  . 
Clouds,  clouds,  nothing  but  clouds!  Around  five 
o'clock  a  change  took  place,  darkness  gradually  en- 
veloped heaven  and  earth,  and  soon  the  clouds  disap- 
peared completely,  vanishing  beneath  a  black  shroud. 
They  were  the  first  to  go,  next  followed  the  forest  and 
the  village,  then  the  church,  the  chapel,  the  hamlet,  the 
orchard,  and  finally  the  manor-house,  several  yards 
away. 

It  has  already  become  quite  dark  in  the  room,  and 
there  is  no  light.  So  what  can  one  do  but  pace  up 
and  down  ?  A  morbid  languor  seizes  Stepan's  brain ; 
his  entire  body,  despite  its  idleness,  is  filled  with  an  \^ 
incomprehensible,  indescribable  feeling  of  fatigue. 
Just  one  thought  moves  in  him  and  sucks  at  him — 
the  grave,  the  grave,  the  grave !  Those  black  dots  X 
which  have  recently  been  moving  busily  on  the  dark 
background  of  the  boggy  soil  and  near  the  village  barns 
are  not  oppressed  by  that  thought.     They  will  not 


66  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

I  perish  under  the  burden  of  despondency  and  weari- 
^  ness.  If  they  do  not  challenge  the  sky  directly,  at 
least  they  struggle,  build,  make  enclosures,  repair 
their  houses.  Stepan  did  not  question  whether  all 
this  bustle  was  worth  the  while,  but  he  was  aware  that 
even  the  nameless  dots  were  incomparably  superior 
to  him,  that  he  couldn't  even  struggle,  that  he  had 
nothing  to  build,  nothing  to  repair. 

He  spent  the  evenings  in  the  counting-house,  be- 
cause Arina  Petrovna  refused  to  supply  him  with 
candles.  Several  times,  through  the  bailiff,  he  asked 
for  boots  and  a  fur  coat,  and  was  invariably  told  that 
boots  were  not  kept  in  store  for  him,  but  that  he 
would  be  given  a  pair  of  felt  shoes  as  soon  as  the 
cold  spells  arrived.  Evidently,  Arina  Petrovna  in- 
tended to  fulfill  her  program  literally,  that  was,  to 
sustain  her  son  in  such  a  manner  as  barely  to  keep 
him  from  starvation.  At  first  he  abused  hi?  mother, 
but  then  behaved  as  though  he  had  forgotten  all  about 
her.  Even  the  light  of  the  candles  in  the  counting- 
room  annoyed  him,  and  he  began  to  lock  himself  in 
his  room  and  remain  all  alone  in  the  darkness.  There 
was  just  a  single  refuge  left,  one  that  he  still  dreaded 
but  that  attracted  him  irresistibly,  to  get  drunk  and 
forget  deeply,  irrevocably,  to  plunge  into  the  sea  of 
obli^q^n  and  never  emerge  again.  Everything  drove 
him  to  it,  the  debauchery  of  the  past,  the  enforced 
idleness  of  the  present,  his  ailing  body  with  the  tor- 
turing cough,  the  unbearable  asthma,  and  the  con* 
stantly  increasing  pains  in  his  heart.  At  last  the  hour 
came. 

''You  must  fetch  me  a  bottle  of  vodka  for  to-night," 
he  said  once  to  the  village  clerk  in  a  voice  boding  little 
good. 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  67 

That  one  bottle  of  vodka  was  followed  by  a  long 
succession  of  other  bottles.  After  that  he  got  drunk 
every  night.  At  nine  o'clock,  when  the  light  in  the 
counting-house  had  been  put  out  and  the  servants  had 
retired  to  their  quarters,  he  placed  a  bottle  of  vodka 
and  a  slice  of  rye  bread  thickly  strewn  over  with  salt 
on  the  table.  He  did  not  attack  the  liquor  at  once, 
but  approached  it  stealthily  as  it  were.  Everybody  on 
the  place  was  fast  asleep.  The  mice  scudded  behind 
the  wall  paper  and  the  clock  in  the  counting-house 
ticked  ominously.  Stepan  threw  off  his  dressing- 
gown,  and  began  to  stride  back  and  forth  in  the  over- 
heated room,  with  nothing  but  a  shirt  on  his  back. 
At  times  he  stopped,  went  over  to  the  table,  searched 
for  the  oottle  in  the  darkness,  then  resumed  his  rest- 
less pacing.  The  first  tumblers  he  emptied  in  a  sort 
of  passion,  voluptuously  swallowing  down  the  burning 
liquid.  But  little  by  little  his  heart  began  to  beat 
faster,  the  blood  mounted  to  his  head,  and  he  mumbled 
incoherently.  His  feeble  imagination  tried  to  create 
images,  his  blunted  memory  attempted  to  pierce  the 
mists  of  the  past.  But  the  images  were  broken  and 
meaningless,  and  the  past  remained  dim  and  formless. 
There  was  no  recollection,  either  bitter  or  sweet,  as 
though  an  impervious  wall  separated  the  past  from 
the  present. 

He  was  completely  filled  by  the  present,  which 
seemed  like  a  prison  cell,  in  which  he  would  be  locked 
up  for  eternity  without  consciousness  of  time  or  space. 
His  mind  took  in  nothing  but  the  room,  the  stove,  the 
three  windows  in  the  front  wall,  the  squeaking  wooden 
bed  with  its  mattress  worn  thin,  and  the  table  with  the 
bottle. 

As  the  contents  of  the  bottle  decreased  and  his  head 


68  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

grew  hotter  and  hotter,  even  this  boresome  sense  of 
the  present  gradually  faded.  His  mumblings,  to 
which  at  first  there  had  been  a  bit  of  form,  now  lost 
all  meaning.  His  pupils  dilated  in  the  attempt  to 
pierce  the  engulfing  darkness.  Finally,  the  darkness 
itself  vanished  and  its  place  was  taken  by  a  phosphor- 
escent sheen. 

It  was  an  endless  void,  with  not  a  color  or  a  sound, 
but  radiant  with  sinister  splendor.  The  void  followed 
him  in  his  wanderings,  trod  on  his  heels  at  every  step. 
There  were  no  walls,  no  windows,  nothing  but  this 
endless  vacant  splendor.  Dread  fell  on  him,  coupled 
with  an  irresistible  impulse  to  annihilate  even  the  void. 
A  few  more  efforts,  and  his  goal  was  reached.  His 
stumbling  legs  carried  a  benumbed  body,  his  chest  gave 
forth  not  a  murmur  but  an  inarticulate  cry,  his  very 
existence  seemingly  ceased.  A  strange  stupor  took 
possession  of  him,  in  which  conscious  life  had  no  part, 
which  plumbed  the  depths  of  a  life  independent  of 
and  beyond  the  boundaries  of  normal  existence. 
Groans  burst  from  his  chest  without  in  the  least  dis- 
turbing his  sleep.  His  organic  disease  continued  its 
destructive  work,  without  apparently  causing  him  any 
physical  pain. 

He  rose  early  in  the  morning,  filled  with  agonizing 
longing,  disgust  and  hatred.  It  was  an  inarticulate 
hatred,  without  either  cause  or  definite  object.  His 
bloodshot  eyes  rolled  restlessly,  his  limbs  trembled, 
his  heart  worked  with  sickening  irregularity,  now  stop- 
ping altogether,  now  hammering  with  such  violence 
that  his  hand  involuntarily  clutched  at  his  breast. 
Not  a  thought,  not  a  desire!  Objects  of  immediate 
perception  filled  his  mind  so  completely  that  it  was 
closed  to  other  impressions. 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  69 

He  filled  his  pipe  and  lighted  it.  It  dropped  from 
his  nerveless  fingers.  His  tongue  mumbled  something, 
but  seemingly  by  force  of  habit  only.  He  sat  in  si- 
lence and  stared  at  one  point.  He  felt  an  intense 
craving  to  raise  the  temperature  of  his  body  so  that 
he  would  feel  the  presence  of  life  for  at  least  a  short 
while.  But  he  had  no  way  of  getting  vodka  in  the 
daytime.  He  had  to  wait  for  night  to  attain  those 
blissful  moments  when  the  ground  vanished  from  un- 
der his  feet  and  the  four  odious  prison  walls  were 
replaced  by  a  shoreless,  shining  void. 

Arina  Petrovna  had  not  the  slightest  idea  of  how 
Simple  Simon  spent  his  time.  The  casual  glimmer 
of  feeling  which  had  appeared  for  a  moment  during 
the  conversation  with  the  Bloodsucker  vanished  so 
precipitately  that  she  was  unconscious  of  its  ever  hav- 
ing appeared.  It  was  not  a  premediated  course  of  ac- 
tion on  her  part,  but  sheer  oblivion.  She  completely 
forgot  that  in  the  counting-house,  in  close  proxim^ity 
to  her,  there  lived  a  human  being  bound  to  her  by  ties 
of  blood,  who  perhaps  was  pining  away  in  the  yearning 
for  life.  Once  having  cut  out  a  certain  channel  in 
life  and  filling  it  almost  mechanically  with  the  same 
things,  she  thought  others  ought  to  do  likewise,  it 
never  occurring  to  her  that  the  very  character  of  the 
things  life  holds  vary  among  people  according  to  a 
multitude  of  circumstances  in  different  combinations, 
and  that  these  things  may  be  dear  to  some,  herself 
among  these  some,  while  they  are  an  abomination  and 
a  tyranny  to  others. 

Therefore  when  the  bailiff  repeatedly  reported  that 
"something  was  the  matter"  with  Stepan  Vladimirych, 
the  words  slipped  by  her  ears,  leaving  no  impression  on 
her  mind.     Indeed,  she  scarcely  ever  even  replied,  and 


70  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

when  she  did,  then  only  with  the  stereotyped  reply: 

''Oh,  well,  he'll  be  all  right.  I  bet  he'll  outlive  you 
and  me.  Nothing  is  the  matter  with  the  shambling 
colt.  Coughing,  you  say!  Well,  some  people  cough 
thirty  years  on  end  and  they  don't  feel  it." 

Nevertheless,  one  morning  when  they  came  and  told 
her  that  Stepan  Vladimirych  had  disappeared  during 
the  night,  she  was  aroused.  Immediately  she  sent  out 
all  the  available  men  in  search  of  him,  and  herself 
started  an  investigation  beginning  with  the  room  in 
which  Stepan  had  lived.  The  first  thing  that  struck 
her  was  a  bottle  standing  on  the  table,  with  a  bit  of 
vodka  in  it. 

"What's  this?"  she  asked,  pretending  not  to  un- 
derstand. 

"Why,  I  guess — the  young  master  indulged,"  stam- 
mered the  bailiff. 

"Who  supplied ?"  she  began,  flaring  up.     But 

she  restrained  herself,  and  continued  her  investiga- 
tion, hiding  her  rage. 

The  room  was  so  filthy  that  even  she,  who  did  not 
know  and  did  not  recognize  any  demands  of  comfort, 
began  to  feel  awkward.  The  ceiling  was  smutty,  the 
wall  paper  in  many  places  was  hanging  in  tatters,  the 
window-sills  were  black  with  a  thick  layer  of  tobacco 
ashes,  pillows  were  lying  about  on  the  floor  beslimed 
with  viscuous  mud,  on  the  bed  lay  a  crumpled  sheet, 
gray  with  accumulated  dirt.  In  one  window  the  win- 
ter frame  had  been  taken,  or,  rather,  torn  out,  and 
the  window  itself  was  left  half  open.  Apparently  it 
was  through  this  opening  that  Simple  Simon  had  dis- 
appeared. Arina  Petrova  instinctively  looked  out  on 
the  road  and  became  more  frightened.  It  was  already 
the  first  of  November,  but  the  autumn  that  year  had 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  71 

lasted  long,  and  the  cold  spells  had  not  yet  arrived. 
Both  the  road  and  the  field  were  one  black  sea  of 
mud.  How  had  he  got  away  ?  Where  had  he  gone  to  ? 
Here  it  occurred  to  her  that  he  had  nothing  on  but 
a  dressing-gown  and  a  slipper.  The  other  slipper  had 
been  found  under  the  window.  And  the  night  before 
it  had  been  pouring  ceaselessly. 

"It's  a  long,  long  time  since  I've  been  here,"  she 
said,  inhaling  instead  of  air  a  foul  mixture  of  vodka, 
tobacco  and  sheepskin  evaporations. 

All  day  long,  while  the  servants  were  searching  the 
forest,  she  stood  at  the  window  staring  dully  out  upon 
the  naked  fields  unrolled  before  her  eyes.  So  much 
ado  on  account  of  Simple  Simon!  It  seemed  like  a 
preposterous  dream.  She  had  said  he  ought  to  have 
been  shipped  off  to  the  Vologda  village.  "No,"  that 
cursed  Yudushka  had  wheedled,  "leave  him  here, 
dearest  mother,  at  Golovliovo."  Now  handle  him,  if 
you  please,  Yudushka. 

"I  wish  he  had  lived  there,  out  of  my  sight,  as  he 
pleased — Christ  be  with  him!"  Arina  Petrovna 
mused.  "But  I  did  my  part.  If  he  wasted  one  good 
thing,  well,  I  tvould  throw  him  another.  If  he'd  have 
wasted  the  other,  too,  well,  what  could  I  do  then? 
Even  God  can't  fill  a  bottomless  belly.  Everything 
would  have  been  peaceful  and  quiet  here.  But  now — 
who  knows  what  he  has  been  up  to?  Go,  look  in  the 
forest  and  whistle  for  him.  It  would  be  good  if  he 
were  brought  home  alive,  but  with  drunken  eyes  one  is 
liable  to  run  into  a  noose — take  a  rope,  tie  it  to  a 
branch,  put  it  round  his  neck,  and  no  more  Stiopka. 
His  mother  denied  herself  sleep  and  food,  and  he  has 
invented  a  new  style — hanging  himself.  There  would 
be  some  excuse  for  him  if  he  had  had  it  hard  here. 


у2  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

But  goodness,  what  did  he  have  to  do  but  walk  about 
in  his  room  all  day  and  eat  and  drink?  Another  son 
would  not  have  known  how  to  thank  his  mother 
enough.  And  how  does  this  precious  son  repay  his 
mother?    Goes  and  hangs  himself.    The  idea!" 

Arina  Petrovna's  surmises  about  Simple  Simon's 
violent  death  were  not  justified.  Toward  evening  he 
was  brought  back  in  a  peasant  wagon,  still  alive.  He 
was  in  a  semi-conscious  state,  all  bruised  and  cut,  his 
face  blue  and  swollen.  He  had  been  found  at  the 
Dubrovino  estate,  twenty  miles  away. 

The  returned  fugitive  slept  straight  through  the  next 
twenty-four  hours.  When  he  awoke,  he  stumbled  to 
his  feet  and  began  to  pace  up  and  down  the  room  as 
was  his  habit,  but  he  did  not  touch  the  pipe  and  made 
no  reply  to  the  questions  he  was  asked.  Arina  Petrov- 
na*s  heart  softened  so  that  on  the  spur  of  the  moment 
she  all  but  had  him  transferred  to  the  manor-house. 
Then  she  quieted  down,  and  left  him  in  the  counting- 
house,  but  gave  orders  for  the  room  to  be  scoured  and 
tidied  up,  the  bed  linen  changed,  curtains  hung,  and 
so  on. 

The  following  evening,  when  told  that  Stepan  Vladi- 
mirych  was  awake,  she  had  him  brought  to  the  house 
for  tea  and  found  it  possible,  in  talking  to  him,  to 
inject  kindliness  into  her  voice. 

"Why  did  you  go  away  from  your  mother?"  she 
began.  ''Do  you  know  you  caused  her  great  anxiety  ? 
It's  good  the  news  did  not  reach  papa.  It  would  have 
been  a  terrible  shock  to  the  pod  sick  man." 

But  Stepan  seemed  altogether  indifferent  to  his 
mother's  kindly  words.  He  kept  staring  at  the  candle 
with  his  glassy  eyes,  as  if  watching  the  snuff  forming 
on  the  wick. 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  n 

"My,  my,  aren't  you  a  foolish  boy?"  continued 
Arina  Petrovna,  growing  kinder  and  kinder.  "Just 
think  what  rumors  will  be  spread  about  your  mother 
because  of  you.  There  are  enough  people  who  envy 
her.  What  will  they  not  say  about  her?  They  will 
say  she  did  not  give  you  food  or  clothes.  My,  my, 
what  a  foolish  boy  you  are!" 

There  was  the  same  silence  and  the  same  motionless 
staring  glance. 

"Was  your  stay  at  mother's  so  bad?  Thank  God, 
you  don't  go  hungry  or  naked.  What  else  do  you 
want?  If  you  are  lonesome,  don't  fret.  This  is 
nothing  but  a  village,  my  boy.  We  have  no  enter- 
tainments or  halls,  we  sit  in  our  nooks  and  we  hardly 
know  how  to  while  away  the  time.  I,  myself,  would 
be  glad  to  dance  now  and  then  or  sing  a  song,  but 
yov.  look  out  upon  the  road  and  you  lose  the  desire  to 
go  even  to  church  in  such  weather." 

Arina  Petrovna  paused,  hoping  that  Simple  Simon 
would  give  utterance  to  at  least  some  sounds,  but  he 
was  as  dumb  as  a  stone.  She  was  beginning  to  work 
up  a  temper,  but  restrained  herself. 

"And  if  you  were  discontented  with  anything,  if 
perhaps  you  lacked  food  or  linen,  could  you  not  ex- 
plain it  frankly  to  your  mother?  Could  you  not  say, 
'Mamma,  darling,  won't  you  have  some  liver  or  curd- 
cakes  prepared  for  me?'  Do  you  think  your  mother 
would  have  refused  you?  Or  if  you  wanted  a  drop 
of  vodka,  goodness,  I  wouldn't  have  begrudged  you 
a  glass  or  two.  To  think  of  it,  you  were  not  ashamed 
to  beg  from  a  serf,  while  it  was  difficult  for  you  to 
say  a  word  to  your  own  mother." 

But  her  flattering  words  were  of  no  avail.  Simple 
Simon  remained  impervious  to  either  emotion  (Arina 


74  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

Petrovna  had  hoped  he  would  kiss  her  hand)  or  re- 
pentance.    In  fact,  he  seemed  to  have  heard  nothing. 

From  that  time  on  he  never  spoke  a  single  word. 
All  day  long  he  walked  up  and  down  his  room,  his 
brows  knit  and  his  lips  moving,  apparently  never  grow- 
ing tired.  At  times  he  halted  as  if  wishing  to  say 
something,  but  he  could  not  find  the  words.  He  had 
not  lost  the  capacity  for  thinking,  but  impressions  left 
so  slight  a  trace  on  his  brain  that  he  could  not  hold 
them  for  any  appreciable  length  of  time.  Consequent- 
ly his  failure  to  find  the  necessary  words  did  not  even 
make  him  impatient.  Arina  Petrovna,  for  her  part, 
thought  he  would  surely  set  the  house  on  fire. 

"He  does  not  say  a  word  all  day  long,"  she  repeated. 
"Still  he  must  be  thinking  of  something,  the  block- 
head! I  am  sure  he'll  set  the  house  on  fire  one  of 
these  days." 

But  the  blockhead  did  not  think  of  anything  at  all. 
He  was  deeply  immersed  in  absolute  darkness,  in  which 
there  was  no  room  either  for  reality  or  the  illusory 
world  of  imagination.  His  brain  did  work,  but  in  a 
void,  disconnected  from  either  the  past,  the  present, 
or  the  future.  It  was  as  though  he  was  completely 
wrapt  up  in  a  black  cloud  and  all  he  did  was  to  scan 
it,  to  watch  its  imaginary  fluctuations,  and,  at  times, 
to  make  a  feeble  attempt  at  resisting  its  sinister  sway. 
The  whole  physical  and  spiritual  world  dwindled  down 
to  that  enigmatic  cloud. 

In  December  of  the  same  year,  Porfiry  Vladimirych 
received  the  following  letter  from  his  mother: 

"Yesterday  morning  God  visited  us  with  a  new  or- 
deal. My  son  and  your  brother,  Stepan,  breathed 
his  last.  The  very  evening  before  he  had  been  quite 
well  and  even  took  his  supper,  but  in  the  morning  he 


THE  FAMILY  COUNCIL  75 

was  found  dead  in  bed.  Such  is  the  brevity  of  this 
earthly  Hfe !  And  what  is  most  grievous  to  a  mother's 
heart  is  that  he  left  this  world  of  vanity  for  the  realm 
of  the  unknown  without  the  last  communion. 

''May  this  be  a  warning  to  us  all.  He  who  sets  at 
naught  the  ties  of  kinship  must  always  await  such  an 
end.  Failures  in  this  life,  untimely  death,  and  ever- 
lasting torments  in  the  life  to  come,  all  these  evils 
spring  from  the  one  source.  For,  however  learned 
and  exalted  we  may  be,  if  we  do  not  honor  our  parents, 
our  learning  and  eminence  will  be  turned  into  nothing- 
ness. Such  are  the  precepts  which  every  one  inhabit- 
ing this  world  must  commit  to  his  mind.  Besides, 
slaves  should  revere  their  masters. 

"Notwithstanding  this,  all  honors  were  duly  given 
to  him  who  had  departed  into  life  eternal,  as  be- 
comes my  son.  The  pall  was  ordered  from  Moscow, 
and  the  burial  ceremonies  were  solemnly  presided  over 
by  the  Father  archimandrite.  And  according  to  the 
Christian  custom,  I  am  having  memorial  services  per- 
formed daily.  I  mourn  the  loss  of  my  son,  but  I  do 
not  complain,  nor  do  I  advise  you,  my  children,  to  do 
so.  For  who  knows?  We  may  be  mourning  and 
complaining  here  while  his  soul  may  be  rejoicing  in 
Heaven." 


BOOK    II 
AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK 


CHAPTER  I 

A  HOT  midday  in  July;  the  Dubrovino  manor- 
house  all  deserted.  Workers  and  idlers  alike  resting 
in  the  shade.  Under  the  canopy  of  a  huge  willow- 
tree  in  the  front  yard  the  dogs,  too,  were  lying 
stretched  out,  and  you  could  hear  the  sound  of  their 
jaws  when  they  drowsily  snapped  at  the  flies.  Even 
the  trees  drooped  motionless,  as  if  exhausted.  All  the 
windows  in  the  manor-house  and  the  servants'  quar- 
ters were  flung  wide  open.  Tht:  heat  seemed  to  surge 
in  sweltering  waves  and  the  soil  covered  with  short, 
singed  grass  was  ablaze.  The  atmosphere  was  a 
blinding  haze  touched  into  gold,  so  that  one  could 
scarcely  distinguish  things  in  the  distance.  The 
manor-house,  once  painted  gray  and  now  faded  into 
white,  the  small  flower  garden  in  front  of  the  house, 
the  birch  grove,  separated  from  the  farm  by  the  road, 
the  pond,  the  village  and  the  corn  field,  which  touched 
the  outskirts  of  the  village,  all  were  immersed  in  the 
dazzling  torrent.  The  fragrance  of  blossoming  lin- 
den trees  mingled  with  the  noxious  emanations  of  the 
cattle  shed.  There  was  not  a  breath  of  air,  not  a 
sound.  Only  from  the  kitchen  there  came  the  grating 
of  knives  being  sharpened,  which  foretold  the  inevita- 
ble hash  and  beef  cutlets  for  dinner. 

Inside  the  house  reigned  noiseless  confusion.  An 
old  lady  and  two  young  girls  were  sitting  in  the  din- 
ing room,  forgetful  of  their  crocheting,  which  lay  on 

79 


8o  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

the  table.  They  were  waiting  with  intense  anxiety. 
In  the  maids'  room  two  women  were  busied  preparing 
mustard  plasters  and  poultices,  and  the  rhythmic  tink- 
ling of  the  spoons  pierced  the  silence  like  the  chirping 
of  a  cricket.  Barefooted  girls  were  stealing  silently 
along  the  corridor,  scurrying  back  and  forth  from  the 
entresol  to  the  maids'  room.  At  times  a  voice  was 
heard  from  upstairs :  ^'What  about  the  mustard  plas- 
ters? Are  you  asleep  there?"  And  a  girl  would  dash 
out  of  the  maids'  room.  At  last  heavy  footsteps 
sounded  on  the  staircase,  and  the  regimental  surgeon 
entered  the  dining  room,  a  tall,  broad-shouldered  man, 
with  firm,  ruddy  cheeks,  the  picture  of  health.  His 
voice  was  sonorous,  his  gait  steady,  his  eyes  clear,  gay 
and  frank,  his  lips  full  and  fresh.  In  spite  of  his 
fifty  years  he  was  a  thoroughly  fast  liver  and  expected 
to  see  many  years  pass  before  he  would  give  up  drink- 
ing and  carousing.  He  wore  a  showy  summer  suit, 
and  his  spotless  pique  coat  was  trimmed  with  white 
buttons  bearing  arms.  On  entering  he  made  a  click- 
ing sound  with  his  lips  and  tongue. 

"Girls!"  he  shouted  merrily,  standing  on  the  thres- 
hold.    "Bring  us  some  vodka  and  something  to  eat." 

"Well,  doctor,  how  is  he?"  the  old  lady  asked,  her 
voice  full  of  anxiety. 

"The  Lord's  mercy  is  infinite,  Arina  Petrovna/' 
answered  the  physician. 

"What  do  you  mean?    Then  he " 

"Just  so.  He  wall  last  another  two  or  three  days, 
and  then — good-bye!"  The  doctor  made  an  expres- 
sive gesture  with  his  hand  and  hummed :  "Head  over 
heels,  head  over  heels  he  will  fall." 

"How's  that?  Doctors  treated  him — and  now  all 
of  a  sudden '* 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK         8i 

"What  doctors?" 

**The  zemstvo  doctor  and  one  from  the  town  used 
to  come  here." 

"Fine  doctors!  If  they'd  given  him  a  good  bleed- 
ing, they'd  have  saved  him." 

"So  nothing  at  all  can  be  done?" 

"Well,  I  said,  The  Lord's  mercy  is  great/  and  I 
can  add  nothing  to  that." 

"But  perhaps  it  will  work?" 

"What  will  work?" 

"I  mean — the  mustard  plasters." 

"Perhaps." 

A  woman  in  a  black  dress  and  black  shawl  brought 
m  a  tray  holding  a  decanter  of  vodka,  a  dish  of  sau- 
sages and  a  dish  of  caviar.  The  doctor  helped  him- 
self to  the  vodka,  held  the  glass  to  the  light  and 
smacked  his  tongue. 

"Your  health,  mother,"  he  said  to  the  old  lady,  and 
gulped  the  liquid. 

"Drink  in  good  health,  my  dear  sir." 

"This  is  the  cause  of  Pavel  Vladimirych  dying  in 
the  prime  of  his  life,  this  vodka,"  said  the  doctor, 
grimacing  comfortably  and  spearing  a  piece  of  sausage 
with  his  fork. 

"Yes,  it's  the  ruin  of  many  a  man." 

"That's  because  not  everyone  can  stand  it.  But 
I  can,  and  I  shall  have  another  glass.  Your  health, 
madam." 

"Drink,  drink.     Nothing  can  happen  to  you." 

"Nothing.  My  lungs  and  kidneys  and  liver  and 
spleen  are  in  excellent  condition.  By  the  way,"  he 
turned  to  the  woman  in  black  who  stood  at  the  door, 
listening  to  the  conversation,  "What  will  you  have  for 
dinner  to-day?'* 


82  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"Hash  and  beef  cutlets  and  chicken  for  roast,"  she 
answered,  smiling  somewhat  sourly. 

''Have  you  any  smoked  fish?" 

"We  have,  sir.  We  have  white  sturgeon  and  stel- 
lated sturgeon,  plenty  of  it." 

"Then  have  a  cold  soup  with  sturgeon  for  our  din- 
ner, and  pick  out  a  fat  bit  of  sturgeon,  you  hear  me? 
What  is  your  name?     Ulita?" 

"Yes,  sir,  people  call  me  Ulita." 

"Well,  then,  hurry  up,  friend  Ulita,  hurry  up." 

Ulita  left  the  room,  and  for  a  while  oppressive  si- 
lence reigned.  Then  Arina  Petrovna  rose  from 
her  seat  and  made  sure  Ulita  was  not  eaves- 
dropping. 

"Andrey  Osipych,  have  you  spoken  to  him  yet  about 
the  orphans?"  she  asked  the  doctor 

"Yes,  I  did." 

"Well?" 

"There  was  no  change.  'When  I  get  well'  he  kept  on 
saying,  T  will  make  my  will  and  write  the  notes.'  " 

Silence,  heavier  than  before,  filled  the  room.  The 
girls  took  the  crocheting  from  the  table,  and  their 
trembling  hands  worked  one  row  after  the  other. 
Arina  Petrovna  heaved  a  deep  sigh  of  dejection.  The 
doctor  paced  up  and  down  the  room  and  whistled, 
"Head  over  heels,  head  over  heels." 

"But  did  you  try  to  drive  the  matter  home  to  him, 
doctor?" 

"Well,  I  said  to  him :  'You'll  be  a  scoundrel  if  you 
don't  make  a  definite  provision  for  the  orphans.* 
Could  I  make  it  clearer?  Yes,  mother,  you  certainly 
slipped  up.  If  you  had  called  me  in  a  month  ago,  I 
would  have  given  him  a  good  bleeding  and  I  would 
have  seen  to  it  that  he  made  his  will.     But  now  every- 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK         83 

thing  will  go  to  Yud^shka,  the  lawful  heir.  It  cer- 
tainly will." 

"Oh,  grandmother,  what  will  become  of  us?"  said 
the  older  of  the  two  girls,  plaintively  and  almost  in 
tears.     "What  is  uncle  doing  to  us?" 

The  girls  were  Anninka  and  Lubinka,  the  daughters 
of  Anna  Vladimirovna  Ulanova,  to  whom  Arina  Pe- 
trovna  had  once  "thrown  a  bone." 

"I  don't  know,  dear,  I  don't  know.  I  don't  even 
know  what  will  become  of  me.  Today  I  am  here,  and 
tomorrow  God  knows  where  I'll  be.  Maybe  I'll  have 
to  sleep  in  a  shed  or  at  a  peasant's." 

"Goodness,  isn't  uncle  silly !"  exclaimed  the  younger 
girl. 

"I  wish,  young  lady,  you  would  keep  your  mouth 
shut,"  remarked  the  doctor.  Turning  to  Arina  Pet- 
rovna,  he  suggested,  "Why  not  try  to  talk  to  him 
yourself,  mother?" 

"No,  no.  There's  no  use  my  talking  to  him.  He 
doesn't  even  want  to  see  me.  The  other  day  I  stuck 
my  nose  into  his  room,  and  he  snarled,  'Have  you 
come  to  see  me  off  to  the  other  world  ?'  " 

"I  think  Ulita  is  back  of  it  all.  She  incites  him 
against  you." 

"She  surely  does,  nobody  but  she.  And  then  she 
reports  everything  to  Porfiry  the  Bloodsucker.  Peo- 
ple say  he  keeps  a  pair  of  horses  harnessed  all  day  wait- 
ing for  the  beginning  of  the  agony.  And  just  imagine, 
the  other  day  Ulita  went  so  far  as  to  take  an  inventory 
of  the  furniture,  wardrobe,  and  dishes,  so  that  nothing 
should  be  lost,  as  she  said.  We  are  the  thieves,  just 
imagine  it." 

"Why  don't  you  treat  her  more  severely?  Head 
over  heels,  you  know,  head  over  heels."  . 


84  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

But  fate  decreed  that  the  doctor  should  not  develop 
his  thought.  A  girl,  all  out  of  breath,  dashed  into  the 
room  and  exclaimed  in  a  fright: 

"The  master !     The  master  wants  the  doctor." 


CHAPTER  II 

Not  more  than  ten  years  had  passed  since  the  death 
of  Simple  Simon,  but  the  condition  of  the  various 
members  of  the  GolovHov  family  had  so  completely 
changed  that  not  a  trace  remained  of  those  artificial 
ties  which  had  given  the  family  the  air  of  an  impreg- 
nable stronghold.  This  stronghold,  erected  by  the 
tireless  hands  of  Arina  Petrovna,  had  crumbled  away, 
but  so  imperceptibly  that  she  herself  was  ignorant  of 
how  it  had  happened,  was  even  involved  in  the  de- 
struction, the  leading  spirit  in  which,  of  course,  had 
been  Porfiry  the  Bloodsucker. 

From  an  irresponsible,  hot-tempered  ruler  over  the 
Golovliovo  estate,  Arina  Petrovna  had  descended  into 
a  mere  hanger-on  in  the  home  of  her  younger  son,  a 
useless  hanger-on,  with  no  voice  in  the  household 
management.  Her  head  was  bowed,  her  back  bent, 
the  fire  in  her  eyes  had  died  out,  her  gait  was  languid, 
the  vivacity  of  her  movements  was  gone.  She  had 
taken  to  knitting  to  occupy  her  idleness,  but  her  mind 
Avas  always  wandering  somewhere  away  from  her 
needles,  and  the  knitting  was  a  failure.  She  would 
knit  for  a  few  moments,  then  her  hands  would  drop 
of  themselves,  her  head  would  fall  on  the  back  of  her 
chair,  and  she  would  begin  to  go  over  bygones  in  her 
mind,  until  she  got  drowsy  and  dropped  off  into  a 
senile  slumber.  Or  else  she  would  get  up  and  begin 
to  pace  the  rooms,  always  searching  for  something: 

85 


86  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

always  looking  into  comers,  like  a  good  housewife 
hunting  for  her  keys,  which  she  usually  carries  about 
with  her  and  has  now  misplaced  somehow. 

The  first  blow  to  her  authority  was  not  so  much  the 
abolition  of  serfdom  as  the  preparations  preceding  it. 
At  first,  there  were  simply  rumors,  then  came  the 
meetings  of  landowners  and  addresses,  next  followed 
provincial  committees,  and  revising  commissions.  All 
these  things  exhausted  and  confused  her.  Arina  Pet- 
rovna's  imagination,  active  enough  without  additional 
stimuli,  conceived  numerous  absurd  situations.  "How 
am  I  going  to  call  Agashka?"  she'd  think.  ^'Perhaps 
Г11  have  to  tack  a  'Miss'  before  her  name."  Or  she 
would  see  herself  walking  about  in  the  empty  rooms 
while  the  servants  were  taking  it  easy  in  their  quarters 
and  were  gorging  themselves  with  all  kinds  of  food; 
and  when  they  got  tired  of  gorging  she  saw  them 
throwing  the  remnants  under  the  table.  Then  she 
would  find  herself  surprising  Yulka  and  Feshka  in  the 
cellar,  devouring  everything  in  sight,  like  beasts,  and 
she  would  itch  to  reprimand  them,  but  would  have  to 
check  herself  with  the  thought,  "How  dare  one  say 
anything  to  them,  now  that  they  are  free?  Why  one 
can't  even  appeal  to  the  court  against  them !" 

However  insignificant  such  trifles  may  be,  a  whole 
fantastic  world  is  built  up  of  them,  which  holds  you 
tight  and  completely  paralyzes  your  activity.  Arina 
Petrovna  somehow  suddenly  let t the  reins  of  govern- 
ment slip  out  of  her  grasp,  and  for  a  space  of  two 
years  did  nothing  from  morning  until  night  except 
complain. 

"One  or  the  other,"  she  was  fond  of  saying,  "gains 
all  or  loses  all.  But  these  meetings  and  addresses  and 
commissions,  they're  nothing  but  trouble." 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK         87 

At  that  time,  just  when  the  committees  were  in  full 
swing,  Vladimir  Mikhailych  died.  On  his  deathbed 
he  repudiated  Barkov  and  his  teachings,  and  died  ap- 
peased and  reconciled  to  the  world.  His  last  words 
were : 

"I  thank  my  God  that  He  did  not  suffer  me  to  come 
into  His  presence  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  serfs." 

These  words  made  a  deep  impression  on  his  wife's 
receptive  soul,  so  that  both  his  death  and  her  fan- 
tastic notions  about  the  future  laid  a  coloring  of  gloom 
and  despair  on  the  atmosphere  of  the  house.  It 
seemed  as  if  both  the  old  manor  and  its  inhabitants 
were  getting  ready  for  death. 

From  a  few  complaints  that  found  their  way  into  the 
letters  of  Arina  Petrovna,  Porfiry  Vladimirych's 
amazingly  keen  perceptions  sensed  the  confusion  that 
possessed  her  mind.  Not  that  Arina  Petrovna  actually 
sermonized  and  moralized  in  her  letters,  but  above  all, 
she  trusted  in  God's  help,  "which  in  these  faithless 
times  does  not  abandon  even  slaves,  far  less  those  who 
because  of  their  means  were  the  surest  prop  and  orna- 
ment of  the  church."  "^Yudushka  instinctively  under- 
stood that  if  mother  dear  began  to  put  her  hope  in 
God,  then  there  was  some  flaw  in  the  fabric  of  her 
existence.  And  he  took  advantage  of  the  flaw  with 
his  peculiar,  subtle  skill. 

Almost  at  the  very  end  of  the  preliminaries  to  the 
emancipation,  he  visited  Golovliovo  quite  unexpectedly 
and  found  Arina  Petrovna  sunk  into  despondency,  al- 
most to  a  point  of  prostration. 

"Well,  what  news  ?  What  do  they  say  in  St.  Peters- 
burg?" was  her  fir^^t  question,  after  mutual  greetings 
had  been  exchanged. 

Porfiry  cast  down  his  eyes  and  sat  speechless. 


88  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"No,  you  must  consider  my  circumstances,"  contin- 
ued Arina  Petrovna,  gathering  from  her  son's  silence 
that  good  news  was  not  to  be  expected.  "Right  now  in 
the  maids'  room  I  have  about  thirty  of  these  creatures. 
What  shall  I  do  with  them?  If  they  remain  in  my 
care,  what  am  I  going  to  feed  them  on?  At  present 
I  have  a  little  cabbage,  a  little  potatoes,  some  bread, 
enough  of  everything;  and  we  manage  somehow  to 
make  both  ends  meet.  If  the  potatoes  give  out,  I 
order  cabbage  to  be  cooked;  if  there  is  no  cabbage, 
cucumbers  have  to  do.  But  now,  if  I  have  to  run  to 
market  for  everything  and  pay  for  everything,  and  buy 
and  serve,  how  am  I  ever  to  provide  iot  such  a 
crowd?" 

Porfiry  gazed  into  the  eyes  of  his  "mother  dear" 
and  smiled  bitterly  as  a  sign  of  sympathy. 

"And  then,  if  the  government  is  going  to  turn  them 
loose,  give  them  absolute  leeway — well,  then,  I  don't 
know,  I  don't  know,  I  don't  know  what  it  will  come  to." 

Porfiry  smiled  as  if  there  were  something  very 
funny  in  "what  it  was  coming  to." 

"Don't  you  laugh.  It  is  a  serious  matter,  so  serious 
that  if  only  the  Lord  grants  them  a  little  more  reason, 
only  then —  Here's  my  case,  for  instance,  I  am  by 
no  means  an  old  rag,  am  I?  I  must  have  my  bread 
and  butter,  too,  mustn't  I?  How  am  I  to  go  about 
getting  it?  Think  of  the  bringing-up  we  received. 
The  only  thing  we  know  is  how  to  dance  and  sing  and 
receive  guests.  Then  how  am  I  going  to  get  along 
without  those  wretches,  I'd  like  to  know.  I  can't 
serve  meals  or  cook.    I  can't  do  a  thing." 

"God  is  merciful,  mother  dear."^ 

"He  used  to  be,  but  not  now.  v\^hen  we  were  good, 
the  Almighty  was  merciful  to  us;  when  we  became 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD   KINSFOLK         89 

wicked,  well,  we  mustn't  complain.  I'm  beginning  to 
think  that  the  best  thing  for  me  is  to  throw  every- 
thing to  the  dogs.  Really,  I'll  build  myself  a  little 
hut  right  next  to  father's  grave,  and  that's  where  I'll 
spend  the  rest  of  my  days." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  pricked  up  his  ears.  His 
mouth  began  to  water. 

''And  who  will  manage  the  estates?"  he  questioned, 
carefully  throwing  his  bait,  as  it  were. 

''\\Ъу,  you  boys  will  have  to  manage  them  your- 
selves. Thank  God,  I  have  provided  plenty.  I  ought 
not  carry  the  whole  burden  alone." 

Arina  Petrovna  suddenly  stopped  and  raised  her 
head.  Her  eyes  fell  on  Yudushka's  simpering,  driv- 
elling, oily  face,  all  suffused  with  a  carnivorous  inner 
glow. 

''You  seem  to  be  getting  ready  to  bury  me,"  re- 
marked Arina  Petrovna  drily.  "Isn't  it  a  bit  too  early,, 
darling?     Look  out,  don't  make  a  mistake." 

Thus  the  matter  ended  in  nothing  definite.  But 
there  are  discussions  which,  once  begun,  never  really 
come  to  an  end.  A  few  hours  later  Arina  Petrovna 
renewed  the  conversation. 

"I'll  leave  for  the  Trinity  Monastery,"  she  dreamed 
aloud.  "I'll  divide  up  the  estate,  buy  a  little  cottage 
on  the  grounds  and  settle  there." 

But  Porfiry  Vladimirych,  taught  by  past  experience, 
remained  silent  this  time. 

"Last  year,  while  your  deceased  father  was  still 
alive,"  continued  Arina  Petrovna,  "I  was  sitting  alone 
in  my  bedroom  and  suddenly  I  thought  I  heard  some- 
one whispering  in  my  ear :  'Go  to  the  Trinity  Monas- 
ery.  Go  to  the  Trinity.'  Three  times,  mind  you. 
I  turned  about — there  was  nobody  in  the  room.     Well, 


90  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

then,  I  thought  that  must  have  been  a  sign  for  me. 
'Well/  I  said,  4f  God  is  pleased  with  my  faith,  I  am 
ready/  No  sooner  had  I  said  that  than  suddenly  the 
room  was  filled  with  such  a  wonderful  fragrance.  Of 
course  I  immediately  ordered  my  things  packed  and 
by  evening  I  was  on  my  way." 

Tears  rose  in  Arina  Petrovna's  eyes.  Yudushka 
took  advantage  of  this  to  kis  his  mother's  hand,  and 
even  made  free  to  put  his  arm  around  her  waist. 

"Now  you  are  a  good  girl,"  he  said.  *'Ah,  how 
good  it  is,  darling,  when  one  lives  in  peace  with  God. 
You  come  to  God  with  a  prayer,  and  the  Lord  meets 
you  with  help.     That's  how  it  is,  mother  dear." 

"Wait  a  minute,  I  haven't  finished.  Next  day,  in 
the  evening  I  arrived  at  the  monastery  and  went 
straight  to  the  saint's  chapel.  Evening  service  was 
being  held,  the  choir  was  singing,  candles  were  burn- 
ing, fragrance  was  wafted  from  the  censers.  I  simply 
did  not  know  where  I  was — on  earth  or  in  Heaven.  I 
went  from  the  service  to  Father  Yon,  and  I  said  to 
him:  'Well,  your  Reverence,  it  was  mighty  good  to- 
day at  church.'  'No  wonder,  madam,'  he  said,  'Father 
Avvakum  had  a  vision  today  at  the  evening  service. 
He  had  just  raised  his  arms  to  begin  praying  when  he 
beheld  a  light  in  the  cupola  and  a  dove  looking  down 
at  him.'  Well,  from  that  time,  I  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion, sooner  or  later  my  last  days  will  be  spent  at 
Trinity  Monastery." 

"And  who  will  take  care  of  us?  Who  will  have 
your  children's  welfare  at  heart?  Ah,  mamma, 
mamma !" 

"Well,  you're  not  babies  any  longer,  and  you'll  be 
able  to  look  after  yourselves.  As  for  me,  Г11  go  to 
the  monastery  with  Annushka's  orphans  and  live  under 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD   KINSFOLK         91 

the  saint's  wing.  Perhaps  the  desire  will  awaken  in 
one  of  the  girls  to  serve  God.  Well,  then,  the  con- 
vent is  right  at  hand.  I'll  buy  myself  a  little  house, 
plant  a  little  garden,  potatoes,  cabbage — there'll  be 
enough  of  everything  for  me." 

Such  idle  talk  continued  for  several  days,  Arina 
Petrovna  making  the  boldest  plans,  withdrawing  them 
and  remaking  them,  and  then  finally  carrying  the  mat- 
ter so  far  that  she  could  not  withdraw  again.  Within 
half  a  year  after  Yudushka's  visit  this  was  the  sit- 
uation: Arina  Petrovna  not  at  the  monastery,  nor  in 
a  little  hoase  built  near  her  husband's  grave.  Instead 
of  that  she  had  divided  the  estate,  leaving  only  the 
capital  for  herself.  Porfiry  Vladimirych  received 
the  better  part  and  Pavel  Vladimirych  the  worse  part. 


CHAPTER  III 

Arina  Petrovna  remained  at  Golovliovo.  This 
gave  rise,  of  course,  to  a  domestic  comedy.  Yudushka 
shed  tears  and  succeeded  in  inducing  his  mother  dear 
to  manage  his  household  without  accountabiHty  to 
him,  to  receive  the  income  and  to  use  it  at  her  dis- 
cretion. "And,  dearest,  whatever  portion  of  the  in- 
come you  give  me,"  he  added,  "I  shall  be  satisfied 
with  it."  Pavel,  on  the  other  hand,  thanked  his 
tnother  coldly  ("as  if  he  wanted  to  bite  me,"  were  her 
words),  immediately  retired  from  service  ("just  so, 
without  his  mother's  blessing,  like  a  madman,  he  es- 
caped to  freedom")  and  settled  down  at  Dubrovino. 

From  that  time  on,  Arina  Petrovna's  judgment  be- 
came somewhat  dimmed.  The  image  of  Porfishka 
the  Bloodsucker,  whom  she  had  once  sized  up  so 
shrewdly,  now  went,  as  it  were,  behind  a  fog.  She 
seemed  no  longer  to  understand  anything  except  that, 
despite  the  division  of  the  estate  and  the  emancipation 
of  the  peasants,  she  still  lived  at  Golovliovo  and  still 
owed  no  account  to  anyone.  Here,  at  her  side,  lived 
another  son,  but  what  a  difference!  While  Porfisha 
had  entrusted  both  himself  and  his  household  into  his 
mother's  care,  Pavel  not  only  never  consulted  her 
about  anything,  but  even  spoke  to  her  through  his 
teeth. 

And  as  her  mind  became  more  clouded,  her  heart 

92 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK        93 

warmed  more  to  her  gentle  son.  Porfiry  Vladimirych 
asked  nothing  of  her.  She  herself  anticipated  his  de- 
sires. Little  by  little  she  became  dissatisfied  with  the 
shape  of  the  Golovliovo  property.  At  such  and  such 
a  place,  a  stranger's  land  jutted  into  it — it  would  be 
\vell  to  buy  up  that  piece  of  land.  In  such  and  such 
a  place  it  would  be  fine  to  have  a  separate  farm,  but 
there  \vas  too  little  meadow.  And  here,  right  next 
to  it,  was  a  meadow  for  sale,  ah,  a  fine  bit  of  meadow. 
Arina  Petrovna's  enthusiasm  was  that  of  a  mother 
and  a  woman  of  affairs  who  wants  her  affectionate 
son  to  view  her  capabilities  in  all  their  glory.  But 
Porfiry  Vladimirych  withdrew  into  his  shell,  im- 
pervious to  all  her  suggestions.  In  vain  did  Arina 
Petrovna  tempt  him  with  bargains.  To  all  her  propo- 
sitions for  acquiring  a  piece  of  woodland  or  meadow- 
land,  he  invariably  answered :  *'Dear  mother,  I  am 
perfectly  satisfied  with  what  you  granted  me  in  your 
kindness." 

These  answers  only  spurred  Arina  Petrovna  on. 
Carried  away  by  her  household  zeal,  and  also  by  in- 
dignation against  the  "scoundrel  Pavlusha,"  who  lived 
beside  her  but  refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  her, 
Arina  Petrovna  lost  sight  of  her  actual  relationship 
to  the  estate.  Her  former  fever  for  acquiring  pos- 
sessed her  with  renewed  strength,  though  now  it  was 
no  longer  aggrandizement  for  her  own  sake  but  for 
the  sake  of  her  beloved  son.  The  Golovliovo  estate 
grew,  rounded  out,  and  flourished. 

And  at  the  very  moment  when  Arina  Petrovna's 
capital  had  dwindled  to  a  point  at  which  it  was  almost 
impossible  for  her  to  live  on  the  interest,  Yudushka 
sent  her  a  most  respectful  letter  along  with  an  enor- 
mous package  of  blank  forms,  which  were  to  guide 


94  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

her  in  the  future  in  the  making  out  of  the  annual  bal- 
ance sheet.  Beside  the  principal  items  of  the  house- 
hold expenses  were  listed  raspberries,  gooseberries, 
mushrooms,  etc.  There  was  a  special  account  for 
every  item,  on  the  following  plan : 

Number  of  raspberry  bushes,  year  i8 — ,     -    -    -  pounds 

"         "    bushes    planted    this    year    -    -    -    -  " 

Quantity   of    berries    picked     -------  " 

Out  of  this  total  you,  mother  dear,  used  for 

yourself      ------------  " 

Preserves  used,  or  to  be  used,  in  the  household  of 

His  Excellency  Porfiry  Vladimirych  Golovliov  " 

Given  to  boy  in  reward  for  good  behavior  -    -    -  " 

Sold  to  the  common  people   for  a  tidbit  -    -    -  " 
Decayed  because  of  absence  of  buyers  and   for 

other    reasons    -----------  " 


Note. — In  case  the  crop  in  the  year  in  which  the  account  is 
taken  is  less  than  that  of  the  previous  year,  the  reasons  therefor, 
like  drought,  rain,  hail,  and  so  forth,  should  be  indicated. 

Arina  Petrovna  fairly  groaned.  First  of  all,  she 
was  shocked  at  Yudushka's  avarice.  She  had  never 
heard  of  berries  forming  an  item  in  the  account  of 
an  estate,  and  he  seemed  to  emphasize  that  item  most. 
Secondly,  she  fully  realized  that  the  blanks  were  a 
constitution  limiting  her  power  hitherto  autocratic. 

After  a  long  controversial  correspondence  between 
them,  Arina  Petrovna,  humiliated  and  indignant, 
moved  to  Dubrovino,  and  Porfiry  Vladimirych  sub- 
sequently retired  from  office  and  settled  at  Golovliovo. 

From  that  time  on  the  old  woman  spent  many 
wretched  days  in  enforced  idleness.  Pavel  Vladi- 
mirych was  particularly  offensive  in  his  treatment  of 
his  mother.  He  received  her  in  what  he  thought  was 
quite  a  decent  manner,  that  is,  he  promised  to  provide 
food  and  drink  for  both  her  and  his  orphan  nieces,  on 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK         95 

two  conditions,  however,  first,  they  were  not  to  enter 
the  entresol  which  he  occupied ;  secondly,  they  were 
not  to  interfere  in  the  management  of  the  household. 
The  second  condition  was  particularly  galling  to 
Arina  Petrovna.  The  management  of  the  house  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  housekeeper  Ulita,  a  viperous 
woman  who  had  been  found  in  secret  communication 
with  Yudushka  and  Kirushka,  the  late  master's  but- 
ler, a  man  who  knew  nothing  about  farming  and 
whom  Pavel  Vladimirych  almost  feared.  Both  of 
them  stole  relentlessly.  How  often  did  Arina  Pet- 
rovna's  heart  ache  when  she  saw  the  house  being  ran- 
sacked; how  she  did  long  to  warn  her  son  and  open 
his  eyes  to  the  theft  of  tea,  sugar,  butter!  Loads  of 
things  were  wasted,  and  Ulita,  not  in  the  least  shamed 
by  the  presence  of  the  old  mistress,  repeatedly  hid 
whole  handfuls  of  sugar  in  her  pocket  right  before 
her  eyes.  Arina  Petrovna  saw  it  all,  but  was  forced 
to  remain  a  silent  witness  to  the  plunder.  No  sooner 
would  she  open  her  mouth  to  make  some  remark,  than 
Pavel  Vladimirych  would  instantly  check  her,  saying: 

^'Mother,  there  should  be  only  one  person  to 
manage  a  house.  I'm  not  alone  in  that  opinion,  every- 
body says  so.  I  know  my  orders  are  foolish.  Never 
mind,  let  them  be  foolish.  Your  orders  are  wise. 
Let  them  be  wise.  Wise  you  are,  very  wise,  still 
Yudushka  left  you  without  house  or  home,  to  shift 
for  yourself." 

The  last  straw  was  the  awful  discovery  that  Pavel 
Vladimirych  drank.  The  craving  had  come  from  the 
loneliness  of  life  in  the  country  and  had  crept  upon 
him  stealthily,  until  finally  it  possessed  him  com- 
pletely, and  he  was  a  doomed  man.  When  his 
mother  first  came  to  live   in  the   house,   he   seemed 


9б  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

to  have  some  scruples  about  drinking.  He  would 
come  down  from  the  entresol  and  talk  to  his  mother 
quite  often.  She  noticed  that  his  speech  was  strangely 
incoherent  but  for  a  long  time  attributed  it  to  his  stu- 
pidity. She  did  not  enjoy  his  visits.  The  chats  with 
him  oppressed  her  extremely.  In  fact  he  always 
seemed  to  be  grumbling  foolishly.  Either  there  had 
been  a  drought  for  many  weeks,  or  an  overwhelming 
downpour  of  rain,  or  tree  beetles  had  overrun  the  gar- 
den and  ruined  the  trees,  or  moles  had  made  their 
appearance  and  dug  up  the  whole  field.  All  this  af- 
forded an  endless  source  for  grumbling.  He  would 
come  down  from  the  entresol,  seat  himself  opposite 
his  mother  and  begin: 

'There  are  clouds  all  around.  Is  Golovliovo  far 
from  here  ?  The  Bloodsucker  had  a  shower  yesterday 
and  we  don't  get  a  single  drop.  The  clouds  wander 
about,  all  around  here.  If  there  were  only  a  drop  of 
rain  for  us !" 

Or  else  he  would  say : 

"Have  you  ever  seen  such  a  flood?  The  rye  has 
just  begun  to  flower  and  it  comes  pouring  down. 
Half  of  the  hay  is  rotten  already,  and  the  rain  still 
spouts  and  spurts.  Is  Golovliovo  far  from  here  ?  The 
Bloodsucker  has  long  since  gathered  in  his  crops,  and 
here  we're  stuck.  We'll  have  to  feed  our  cattle  on 
rotten  hay  this  winter." 

Arina  Petrovna  listened  in  silence  to  his  stupid  com- 
plaints, but  at  times  her  patience  gave  way  and  she 
said : 

"Well,  keep  on  sitting  there  with  your  arms  folded." 

Instantly  Pavel  Vladimirych  would  flare  up. 

"What  would  you*  advise  me  to  do  ?  Transfer  the 
rain  to  Golovliovo?" 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK         97 

"Vm  not  talking  about  the  rain,  but  in  general." 

"No  4n  general/  please.  Why  don't  you  tell  me 
straight  out  what  you  think  I  should  do?  Shall  I 
change  the  climate?  There's  Golovliovo.  When  Go- 
lovHovo  needs  rain,  it  rains.  When  Golovliovo  doesn't 
need  rain,  then  it  doesn't  rain.  And  everything  grows 
there,  while  here,  the  very  opposite.  Well,  we'll  see 
what  you'll  have  to  say  when  there  isn't  anything  to 
eat." 

"Then  such  will  be  the  Lord's  will." 

"All  right,  then  such  will  be  the  Lord's  will.  But 
you  say  4n  general'  as  if  that  were  an  explanation." 

Sometimes  Pavel  even  found  his  property  a  burden. 

"Why  in  the  world  did  I  get  the  Dubrovino  estate?" 
he  would  complain.     "What  good  is  it?" 

"What's  the  matter  with  Dubrovino?  The  soil  is 
good,  there's  plenty  of  everything.  What's  got  into 
your  head  of  a  sudden?" 

"This,  that  nowadays  there's  no  use  having  any 
estate.  Money,  that's  the  thing.  You  take  your 
money,  put  it  in  your  pocket  and  off  you  go.  But 
real  estate " 

"What  sort  of  an  age  have  we  come  to  when  there's 
no  use  owning  real  estate?" 

"Yes,  this  is  a  peculiar  age.  You  don't  read  the 
newspapers,  but  I  do.  Nowadays  the  lawyers  are 
everywhere — you  can  imagine  the  rest.  If  a  lawyer 
finds  out  that  you  have  real  estate,  then  he  begins  to 
circle  around  you." 

"Well,  how  is  he  going  to  get  at  you  when  you  have 
the  proper  deeds  to  the  property?" 

"Deeds  or  no  deeds,  they'll  get  you.  Porfiry  the 
Bloodsucker  may  hire  a  lawyer  and  serve  me  with 
summons  after  summons." 


98  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

''What  are  you  talking  about !  We're  not  living  in 
a  lawless  country." 

''That's  just  why  they  serve  summonses  on  you. 
If  the  country  were  lawless,  they  would  take  it  away 
without  a  summons.  There's  my  friend  Gorlopiatov, 
for  instance.  His  uncle  died  and  he,  fool  that  he  was, 
up  and  accepted  the  inheritance.  The  inheritance 
proved  worthless,  but  the  debts  figured  up  to  the  thou- 
sands, the  bills  of  exchange  were  all  false.  Now 
they've  been  suing  him  for  three  years  on  end.  First, 
they  took  his  uncle's  estate.  Then  they  even  sold  his 
own  property  at  auction.     That's  what  real  estate  is.'* 

"Can  there  possibly  be  a  law  like  that?" 

"If  there  were  no  such  law,  they  couldn't  have  sold 
it.  There's  a  law  for  everything.  A  man  without 
a  conscience  finds  a  law  to  back  him  in  everything. 
But  there  are  no  laws  for  a  man  with  a  conscience. 
Try  and  look  for  them  in  the  books." 

Arina  Petrovna  always  let  Pavel  have  his  way  in 
these  controversies.  Many  a  time  she  could  hardly 
refrain  from  shouting,  "Out  of  my  sight,  you  scoun- 
drel." But  she  would  think  it  over  and  keep  silent. 
Sometimes  she  would  only  murmur  to  herself : 

"Goodness,  whom  do  these  monsters  take  after? 
One  is  a  bloodsucker,  the  other  is  a  lunatic.  What 
did  I  hoard  and  save  for?  For  what  did  I  deny  my- 
self sleep  and  food?    For  \vhom  did  I  do  all  that?" 

The  more  completely  drink  took  possession  of  Pavel 
Vladimirych,  the  more  fantastic  and  annoying  his 
conversations  became.  Finally  Arina  Petrovna  no- 
ticed there  was  something  wrong.  A  whole  flask  of 
vodka  would  be  put  away  in  the  dining-room  cupboard 
in  the  morning,  and  by  dinner  time  there  wouldn't  be 
a  drop  left.     Or  she  would  be  sitting  in  the  parlor 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK         99 

and  would  hear  a  mysterious  creaking  in  the  dining- 
room  near  the  cupboard.  She  would  call  out,  ''Who's 
there  ?"  and  would  hear  footsteps  quickly  but  carefully 
withdrawing  toward  the  entresol. 

''Goodness,  can  it  be  that  he  drinks  ?"  she  once  asked 
Ulita. 

"I  shouldn't  deny  it,"  answered  the  latter,  with  a 
vicious  grin. 

When  Pavel  Vladimirych  saw  that  his  mother  had 
discovered  the  truth,  he  lost  all  restraint.  One  morn- 
ing Arina  Petrovna  found  the  cupboard  had  disap- 
peared from  the  dining-room,  and  when  she  asked 
where  it  had  gone  to,  Ulita  told  her  she  had  been  or- 
dered to  carry  it  to  the  entresol,  because  it  would  be 
more  comfortable  for  the  master  to  drink  there. 

In  the  entresol,  the  decanters  of  vodka  followed  one 
after  the  other  with  amazing  rapidity.  Shut  up  alone 
by  himself,  Pavel  Vladimirych  began  to  hate  human 
society.  He  created  a  peculiar  fantastic  reality  for 
himself,  spinning  out  a  long-winded  nonsensical  ro- 
mance, in  which  the  main  heroes  were  himself  and  the 
Bloodsucker.  He  was  not  fully  conscious  of  how 
deeply  rooted  his  hatred  for  Porfiry  was.  It  gnawed 
at  his  bones  and  entrails  every  minute  of  his  life.  The 
loathed  image  of  his  brother  stood  lifelike  before  his 
eyes,  and  Yudushka's  lachrvmose.  hypocritical  twaddle 
rang  in  his  ears.  In  his  talk  there  lurked  a  cold, 
almost  abstract  hatred  of  every  living  thing  that  did 
not  conform  to  the  traditional  code  laid  down  by  hy- 
pocrisy. Pavel  Vladimirych  drank  and  recalled  mem- 
ories, all  the  insults  and  humiliations  he  had  had  to 
suffer  because  of  Yudushka's  claims  to  supremacv  in 
the  house ;  the  division  of  the  estate  in  particular ;  how 
he  had  calculated  every  kopek  and  compared  every 


100  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

scrap  of  land.  Oh,  how  he  detested  him!  Entire 
dramas  were  enacted  in  his  imagination,  heated  by  al- 
cohol. In  these  dramas  he  avenged  every  offense  that 
he  had  sustained,  and  not  Yudushka  but  he  himself  was 
always  the  aggressor.  He  saw  himself  the  winner  of 
two  hundred  thousand,  and  informed  Yudushka  of 
his  good  luck  in  a  long  scene,  making  his  brother's 
face  writhe  with  envy.  At  other  times  he  imagined 
his  grandfather  had  died  and  left  a  million  to  him, 
while  nothing  at  all  to  Porfiry.  He  also  discovered  a 
means  of  becoming  invisible  and  when  unseen  he 
played  wicked  tricks  on  Porfiry  to  make  him  groan  in 
agony.  His  genius  for  inventing  tricks  was  inex- 
haustible, and  for  a  long  time  his  idiotic  laughter  would 
ring  through  the  entresol,  much  to  the  delight  of 
Ulita,  who  would  hurry  to  inform  Porfiry  Vladimirych 
of  his  brother's  doings. 

He  detested  Yudushka  and  at  the  same  time  had  a 
superstitious  fear  of  him.  He  imagined  his  eyes  dis- 
charged a  venom  of  magic  effect,  that  his  voice  crept, 
snake-like,  into  the  soul  and  paralyzed  the  will.  He 
absolutely  refused  to  meet  him,  and  when  the  Blood- 
sucker occasionally  visited  Dubrovino  to  kiss  the  hand 
of  his  mother  dear,  Pavel  Vladimirych  would  lock  him- 
self into  the  entresol  and  remain  imprisoned  there 
until  he  left. 

So  the  days  passed  until  Pavel  Vladimirych  found 
himself  face  to  face  with  a  deadly  malady. 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  doctor  stayed  at  the  house  overnight  merely  for 
the  sake  of  form,  and  departed  for  the  city  early  the 
next  day.  On  taking  leave  he  said  frankly  that  the 
patient  had  no  more  than  two  days  to  live,  and  it  was 
already  too  late  to  talk  about  any  "arrangements" 
since  Pavel  Vladimirych  could  not  even  sign  his  name 
properly. 

"He'll  sign  the  document  wrong  and  then  you 
will  have  a  lawsuit  on  your  hands,"  he  added.  "Of 
course,  Yudushka  respects  his  mother  very  highly, 
but,  at  that,  he'll  commence  proceedings  to  prove  fraud, 
and  should  'mother  dear'  be  sent  to  distant  regions, 
the  only  thing  he'll  do  is  to  have  a  mass  said  for  the 
welfare  of  the  travellers." 

All  morning  Arina  Petrovna  walked  about  as  if  in 
a  dream.  She  tried  to  say  her  prayers.  Perhaps 
God  would  suggest  something,  but  prayers  would  not 
enter  her  head.  Even  her  tongue  refused  to  obey. 
There  vas  utter  confusion  in  her  mind.  Fragments 
of  prayers  mingled  with  incoherent  thoughts  and 
vague  impressions. 

Finally  she  sat  down  and  sobbed.  The  tears  flowed 
•from  her  dull  eyes  over  her  aged  shrivelled  cheeks, 
lingered  in  the  hollows  of  her  wTinkles,  and  dribbled 
down  on  the  greasy  collar  of  her  old  calico  waist.  Her 
tears  spoke  of  bitterness,  despair,  and  feeble,  but  stub- 
born resistance.     Her  age,  her  senile  ailments,   and 

lOI 


10^  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

th^  hopelessness  of  the  situation,  all  seemed  to  point 
to  death  as  the  only  Vv^ay  out.  At  the  same  time  mem- 
ories of  the  past  intervened,  memories  of  a  life  of 
power,  prosperity  and  unrestrained  freedom,  and  these 
reminiscences  plunged  their  sting  into  her  soul,  drag- 
ging her  down  to  earth.  'To  die!"  passed  through 
her  mind,  but  the  thought  was  instantly  supplanted 
by  a  dogged  desire  to  live.  She  recalled  neither  Yu- 
dushka  nor  her  dying  son.  It  was  as  if  both  had 
ceased  to  exist  for  her.  She  thought  of  no  one,  was 
indignant  at  no  one,  accused  no  one,  even  forgot 
whether  she  had  any  capital  or  no  and  whether  it 
was  sufficient  to  provide  for  her  old  age.  A  deadly 
anguish  seized  her  entire  being.  Her  tears  had  come 
from  a  deep  source.  Drop  by  drop  they  had  been 
accumulating  since  the  moment  when  she  left  Golov- 
liovo  and  settled  at  Dubrovino.  She  was  quite  pre- 
pared for  everything  that  awaited  her.  She  had  ex- 
pected and  foreseen  everything,  but  somehow  it  had 
never  come  to  her  with  such  vividness  that  her  fears 
would  be  realized.  And  now  this  very  end  had  ar- 
rived, an  end  full  of  anguish  and  hopeless  lonesome- 
ness.  All  her  life  long  she  had  been  busy  building  up, 
she  had  worn  herself  to  the  bone  for  something,  and 
now  she  felt  as  if  she  had  wasted  her  life  on  a  phan- 
tom. All  her  life  the  word  ''family"  had  never  left 
her  lips.  In  the  name  of  "family"  she  had  punished 
some  and  rewarded  others.  In  the  name  of  "family" 
she  had  subjected  herself  to  privations,  torments,  she 
had  crippled  her  whole  life;  and  suddenly  she  discov- 
ered that  "family"  was  exactly  what  she  did  not  have. 
"Good  Lord!  Can  it  possibly  be  the  same  every- 
where?" was  the  thought  that  kept  revolving  in  her 
mind. 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK       103 

She  sat  with  her  head  resting  on  her  hand  and  her 
face  soaked  with  tears  turned  to  the  rising  sun,  as 
if  to  bid  it,  ''Look!"  She  neither  groaned  nor  cursed. 
She  simply  sobbed  as  if  choked  by  her  tears.  At  the 
same  time  the  thought  seared  her  soul,  "There  is  no 
one !     No  one !     No  one !" 

But  now  her  eyes  were  drained  of  tears.  She 
washed  her  face  and  wandered  without  purpose  into 
the  dining-room.  Here  she  was  assailed  by  the  girls 
with  new  complaints  which  seemed  at  this  time  par- 
ticularly importunate. 

''What  is  going  to  come  of  it,  grandma  ?  Is  it  pos- 
sible that  we  shall  be  left  just  so,  without  anything?" 
grumbled  Anninka. 

"How  silly  uncle  is,"  Lubinka  chimed  in. 

About  midday,  Arina  Petrovna  decided  to  go  to  her 
dying  son.  Stepping  softly  she  climbed  the  stairs  and 
groped  in  the  dark  till  she  found  the  door  leading 
into  the  rooms.  The  entresol  was  buried  in  deepest 
gloom.  The  windows  were  darkened  by  green  shades, 
through  which  the  light  could  scarcely  filter.  A  sick- 
ening mixture  of  odors  pervaded  the  room,  which  had 
not  been  ventilated  for  a  long  while.  There  was  the 
smell  of  berries,  plaster,  oil  from  the  image-lamp,  and 
those  peculiar  odors  which  bespeak  the  presence  of 
sickness  and  death.  There  were  only  two  rooms.  In 
the  first  one  sat  Ulita,  cleaning  berries.  The  flies 
swarmed  about  the  heap  of  gooseberries  and  impu- 
dently attacked  her  nose  and  lips,  and  she  would  keep 
driving  them  off  in  exasperation.  Through  the  half- 
closed  door  of  the  adjoining  room  came  the  sound 
of  incessant  coughing  which  every  now  and  then 
ended  in  painful  expectoration.  Arina  Petrovna 
stopped  in  an  uncertain  pose,   searching  the   gloom 


104  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

and  waiting  for  the  course  of  action  that  Ulita 
would  take  in  view  of  her  arrival.  But  UHta  never 
moved  an  eyelash,  entirely  confident  that  every  attempt 
to  influence  the  sick  man  would  be  fruitless.  Her  lips 
merely  twitched  in  resentment,  and  Arina  Petrovna 
heard  the  word  ''hag"  pronounced  under  her  breath. 

"You  had  better  go  down,  my  dear,"  said  Arina 
Petrovna,  turning  to  Ulita. 

''Where  did  you  get  that  idea  from?"  snapped  the 
latter. 

"I  have  to  talk  to  Pavel  Vladimirych.     "Go  down." 

"Excuse  me,  madam,  how  can  I  leave  the  master? 
What  if  something  should  happen?  There's  no  one 
to  serve  him  and  attend  to  him." 

"What's  the  matter?"  a  hollow  voice  called  from 
the  bedroom. 

"Order  Ulita  to  go  downstairs,  my  friend.  I  have 
matters  to  talk  over  with  you." 

This  time  Arina  Petrovna  pressed  her  point  so  per- 
sistently that  she  was  victorious.  She  crossed  her- 
self and  entered  the  room.  The  patient's  bed  stood 
near  the  inner  wall  far  from  the  window.  He  lay  on 
his  back,  covered  with  a  white  blanket,  smoking  a 
cigarette,  though  almost  half  unconscious.  Notwith- 
standing the  smoke,  the  flies  pestered  him  with  peculiar 
persistence,  so  that  he  had  continually  to  pass  his  hand 
over  his  face.  His  arms  were  so  weak,  so  bare  of 
muscle,  that  they  showed  the  bones,  of  almost  equal 
thickness  from  wrist  to  shoulder,  in  clear  outline.  His 
head  nestled  despondently  in  the  pillow.  His  whole 
body  and  face  burned  in  a  dry  fever.  His  large  round 
eyes  were  sunken  and  gazed  aimlessly  about,  as  if 
looking  for  something.  The  lines  of  his  nose  had 
grown  longer  and  sharper.     His  mouth  was  half  open. 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD   KINSFOLK       105  . 

He  had  stopped  coughing,  but  he  breathed  with  such 
difficulty  that  it  seemed  as  if  all  his  vital  energy  were 
concentrated  in  his  chest. 

"Well,  how  do  you  feel  to-day?"  asked  Arina  Pet- 
rovna,  sinking  into  the  armchair  at  his  feet. 

''So — so — to-morrow — that  is,  to-day — when  was 
the  doctor  here?" 

"He  was  here  to-day." 

"Well,  then,  to-morrow " 

The  patient  fumbled  as  if  struggling  to  recall  a 
word. 

"You'll  be  able  to  get  up?"  prompted  Arina  Pet- 
rovna.     "God  grant  it,  my  friend,  God  grant  it." 

They  both  remained  silent  for  a  moment.  Arina 
Petrovna  found  it  very  difficult  to  open  a  conversation 
when  she  was  face  to  face  with  Pavel  Vladimirych. 

"Yudushka — is  he  alive?"  finally  asked  the  sick 
man  himself. 

"Nothing  is  the  matter  with  him.  He  lives  and 
prospers." 

"I  bet  he  is  thinking,  'Now  brother  Pavel  is  going  to 
die — and  with  God's  help  the  estate  will  come  to  me.'  " 

"We'll  all  die,  some  day — and  after  every  one  of 
us,  the  estates  will  go  to  the  lawful  heirs." 

"Only  not  to  the  Bloodsucker!  I'll  throw  it  to  the 
dogs,  but  he  shan't  have  it." 

The  situation  was  turning  out  excellently.  Pavel 
Vladimirych  himself  was  leading  the  conversation. 
Arina  Petrovna  did  not  fail  to  take  advantage  of  the 
opportunity. 

"You  ought  to  consider  that,  my  friend,"  she  said, 
as  if  by  the  way,  not  looking  at  her  son  and  examining 
the  color  of  her  hands  as  if  they  were  the  main  object 
of  her  interest. 


io6  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

'What  do  you  mean  by  'that'  ?" 

''Well,  I  mean,  if  you  don't  wish  that  the  estate 
should  go  to  your  brother." 

The  patient  was  silent.  Only  his  eyes  widened  un- 
naturally and  his  face  flushed  more  and  more. 

"And  also,  my  friend,  you  ought  to  take  into  con- 
sideration the  fact  that  you  have  orphaned  nieces — and 
what  sort  of  capital  have  they?  Then  there  is  your 
mother,"  continued  Arina  Petrovna. 

"You've  managed  to  give  everything  away  to  Yu- 
dushka !" 

"Whatever  may  have  happened,  I  know  that  I  my- 
self am  to  blame.  But  it  wasn't  such  a  crime  after 
all.  I  thought  'he  is  my  son.'  At  any  rate,  it  isn't 
kind  of  you  to  remember  that  against  your  mother." 

Silence  followed. 

"Well,  why  don't  you  say  something?" 

"And  how  soon  do  you  expect  to  bury  me?" 

"Oh,    don't    talk    like    that.      All    Christians 

Everybody  doesn't  die  right  away,  still  in  general " 

"There  you  go — 'in  general !'  Always  your  'in  gen- 
eral!'    You  think  I  don't  see." 

"See  what,  my  boy?" 

"I  see  you  take  me  for  a  fool.  Well,  if  I  am  a 
fool,  let  me  remain  a  fool.  Why  do  you  come  to  a 
fool?     Don't  come,  don't  worry  about  me." 

"I'm  not  worrying.  But  in  general  there  is  a  term 
set  to  everybody's  life." 

"Then  wait  for  my  term." 

Arina  Petrovna  lowered  her  head  and  meditated. 
She  saw  clearly  that  her  case  was  almost  a  failure, 
but  she  was  so  tortured  that  nothing  could  convince 
her  of  the  fruitlessness  of  further  attempts  to  influence 
her  son. 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK       107 

"I  don't  know  why  you  hate  me,"  she  declared 
finally. 

"Not  at  all — on  the  contrary  I — not  at  all.  In  fact 
I — why,  the  idea — you  brought  us  all  up — so  impar- 
tially." 

He  spoke  in  jerks  and  gasps.  A  broken  yet  tri- 
umphant laugh  made  its  way  into  his  voice.  His 
eyes  sparkled.     His  shoulders  and  legs  quivered. 

'Terhaps  I  have  really  sinned  against  you,  then  for 
Christ's  sake  forgive  me." 

Arina  Petrovna  rose  and  bowed  till  her  hand  touched 
the  floor.  Pavel  Vladimirych  shut  his  eyes  without 
replying. 

^'Suppose  we  let  the  question  of  the  estate  alone. 
You  couldn't  make  any  arrangement  in  your  present 
condition.  Porfiry  is  the  lawful  heir.  Well,  let  the 
real  estate  go  to  him.  But  what  about  your  personal 
property  and  capital?"  Arina  Petrovna  ventured  to 
state  her  point  directly. 

Pavel  Vladimirych  shuddered,  but  remained  silent. 
It  is  very  possible  that  at  the  word  "capital"  he  gave 
no  thought  whatsoever  to  his  mother's  insinuations, 
but  simply  mused  :  "September  is  here  already.  I  have 
to  collect  the  interest." 

"If  you  think  I  desire  your  death,  you're  very  much 
mistaken,  my  child.  If  you  would  only  live  I  should 
not  need  to  complain  in  my  old  age.  What  have  I  to 
grumble  about?  I  have  food  and  shelter  here,  and 
should  I  want  a  little  additional  pleasure,  I  can  get  it. 
I  merely  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that 
there  is  a  custom  among  Christians,  according  to 
which,  in  expectation  of  the  life  to  come,  we " 

Arina  Petrovna  paused,  searching  for  a  suitable 
word. 


io8  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"We  provide  for  the  future  of  those  related  to  us," 
she  concluded,  looking  out  of  the  window. 

Pavel  Vladimirych  lay  motionless,  coughing  softly. 
He  did  not  betray  by  a  single  movement  whether  or 
not  he  was  listening.  Apparently  his  mother  was  bor- 
ing him. 

"The  capital  may  go  from  hand  to  hand  during 
life,"  said  Arina  Petrovna,  as  though  passing  a  trivial 
remark  and  resuming  the  inspection  of  her  hands. 

The  patient  shuddered  slightly,  but  Arina  Petrovna 
did  not  notice  it  and  continued : 

"The  law,  my  friend,  expressly  permits  the  free 
transfer  of  capital.  Money  is  something  one  acquires. 
Yesterday  you  had  it.  To-day  it  is  gone.  And  no- 
body can  call  you  to  account  for  it.  You  can  give  it 
to  whomever  you  choose." 

Pavel  Vladimirych  suddenly  laughed  viciously. 

"You  probably  remember  the  story  about  Poloch- 
kin,"  he  hissed.  "He  gave  his  capital  to  his  wife  *from 
hand  to  hand'  and  she  ran  off  with  her  lover." 

"You  may  rest  assured,  my  child,  I  have  no  lover." 

"Then  you'll  run  off  without  a  lover — with  the 
money." 

"How  well  you  understand  my  motives!" 

"I  don't  understand  you  at  all.  You  gave  me  the 
reputation  of  a  fool.  Well,  I  am  a  fool.  Let  me  be 
a  fool.  What  wonderful  tricks  they  have  invented — 
to  pass  my  money  from  hand  to  hand!  And  where 
do  I  come  in?  I  suppose  you'll  order  me  to  go  to  a 
monastery  for  my  salvation,  and  from  there  watch 
how  you  manage  my  money?" 

He  shot  these  words  out  in  a  volley,  in  a  voice  full 
of  hatred  and  indignation.  Then  he  broke  down  com- 
pletely and  burst  into  a  fit  of  coughing  that  lasted  a 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK       109 

full  quarter  of  an  hour.  It  was  amazing  to  see  how 
much  strength  that  wretched  human  skeleton  con- 
tained. Finally  he  caught  his  breath  and  closed  his 
eyes. 

Arina  Petrovna  looked  about  in  bewilderment.  Un- 
til that  moment  she  could  not  believe  it,  somehow,  but 
now  she  was  fully  convinced  that  every  attempt  to 
persuade  the  dying  man  would  only  serve  to  hasten 
the  day  of  Yudushka's  triumph.  Yudushka  kept 
dancing  before  her  eyes.  She  saw  him  walking  be- 
hind the  hearse,  giving  his  brother  the  last  Judas  kiss 
and  squeezing  out  two  foul  tears.  Then  she  had  a 
picture  of  the  coffin  being  lowered  into  the  grave  and 
Yudushka  exclaiming,  "Farewell,  brother!"  his  lips 
twitching  and  his  eyes  rolling  upward.  She  heard  his 
attempt  to  add  a  note  of  grief  to  his  voice,  and  after- 
wards say,  turning  to  Ulita:  "The  kutya,*  the  kutya, 
don't  forget  to  take  the  kutya  into  the  house.  And  be 
sure  to  put  on  a  clean  table  cloth.  We  must  honor 
brother's  memory  in  the  house,  too."  Next  she  saw 
him  presiding  over  the  funeral  feast,  chatting  in- 
cessantly with  the  reverend  father  about  the  virtues 
of  the  deceased.  She  heard  him  say,  "Ah,  brother, 
brother,  you  didn't  wish  to  live  with  us,"  as  he  rose 
from  the  table,  stretching  out  his  hand,  palm  upward, 
to  receive  the  father's  blessing.  And  lastly  she  saw 
Yudushka  walking  about  the  house  with  the  air  of  a 
master,  taking  the  inventory  of  all  the  effects  and  in 
doubtful  cases  casting  suspicious  glances  at  mother. 

All  these  inevitable  scenes  of  the  future  floated  be- 
fore Arina   Petrovna's  mental  vision.     In  her  ears 


*  A  gruel  made  of  rice  or  wheat  or  barley,  boiled  with  raisins 
and  mead.  It  is  eaten  after  the  mass  for  the  dead  and,  in  the 
South,  on  Christmas  Eve. — Translator's  Note. 


no  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

rang  Yudushka's  shrill,  unctuous  voice  as  he  said: 
"Do  you  remember,  mother  dear,  the  little  golden  shirt 
studs  that  brother  had?  They  were  so  pretty.  He 
used  to  wear  them  on  holidays.  I  simply  can't  ima- 
agine  where  those  studs  could  have  gone  to." 


CHAPTER  V 

No  SOONER  did  Arina  Petrovna  come  downstairs, 
than  a  carriage  drawn  by  a  team  of  four  horses  made 
its  appearance  on  a  hill  near  the  church.  In  it,  in  the 
place  of  honor,  was  seated  Porfiry  Golovliov,  who  had 
removed  his  hat  and  was  crossing  himself  at  the  sight 
of  the  church.  Opposite  him  sat  his  two  sons,  Pe- 
tenka  and  Volodenka.  The  very  blood  froze  in  Arina 
Petrovna's  veins  as  the  thought  flashed  through  her 
mind,  ''Speak  of  the  devil  and  he's  sure  to  appear." 
The  girls  also  lost  courage,  and  timidly  clung  closer 
to  therr  grandmother.  The  house  hitherto  peaceful 
was  suddenly  filled  with  alarm.  Doors  banged,  peo- 
ple ran  about  crying,  'The  master  is  coming,  the 
master  is  coming!"  and  all  the  occupants  of  the  house 
rushed  out  on  the  porch.  Some  made  the  sign  of 
the  cross,  some  stood  in  silent  expectation,  all  appar- 
ently conscious  of  the  fact  that  the  existing  order  in 
Dubrovino  had  been  only  temporary,  and  that  now 
the  real  management  was  to  begin  with  a  real  master 
at  the  head.  Under  the  former  master  some  of  the 
old,  deserving  serfs  had  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  a 
monthly  allowance  of  provisions.  Many  of  them  fed 
their  cattle  on  the  master's  hay,  had  kitchen  gardens 
of  their  own,  and  altogether  lived  "freely."  Every- 
one, of  course,  was  now  vitally  interested  to  know 
whether  the  new  master  would  permit  the  old  order 

III 


112  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

of  things,  or  whether  he  would  introduce  a  new  one, 
similar  to  that  which  prevailed  at  Golovliovo. 

Yudushka  drove  up  to  the  house.  From  the  recep- 
tion accorded  to  him  he  concluded  that  affairs  at  Du- 
brovino  were  fast  coming  to  a  head.  Without  a  sign 
of  haste,  he  descended  from  the  carriage,  waved  his 
hand  to  the  servants  who  rushed  forward  to  kiss  it, 
then  put  his  palms  together,  and  began  to  climb  the 
steps  slowly,  whispering  a  prayer.  His  face  expressed 
a  feeling  of  mingled  grief,  firmness,  and  resignation. 
As  a  man  he  grieved;  as  a  Christian  he  did  not  dare 
to  complain.  He  prayed  to  God  to  cure  his  brother, 
but  above  all  he  put  his  trust  in  the  Lord  and  bowed 
before  His  will.  His  sons  walked  side  by  side  behind 
him,  Volodenka  mimicking  his  father,  clasping  his 
hands,  rolling  his  eyes  heavenward  and  mumbling  his 
lips.  Petenka  revelled  in  his  brother's  performance. 
Behind  them,  in  silent  procession,  followed  the  serv- 
ants. 

Yudushka  kissed  dear  mother's  hand,  then  her  lips, 
then  her  hand  again  and  put  his  arm  about  her  waist 
and  said,  shaking  his  head  sadly : 

"And  you  keep  on  worrying.  That's  bad,  mother 
dear,  very  bad.  Instead  of  that  you  should  ask  your- 
self: 'And  what  is  God  going  to  say  to  this?'  He 
will  say :  *Here  have  I  in  my  infinite  wisdom  arranged 
everything  for  the  best,  and  she  grumbles.'  Ah, 
mother  dear,  mother  dear." 

Then  he  kissed  both  of  his  nieces,  and  with  the  same 
charming  familiarity  in  his  voice,  said : 

"And  you,  too,  romps,  you  are  crying  your  eyes  out. 
I  won't  permit  it.  I  command  you  immediately  to 
smile.     And  that  shall  be  the  end  of  it." 

And  he  stamped  his  foot  at  them  in  jesting  anger. 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK       113 

"Just  look  at  me,"  he  continued.  "As  a  brother  I 
am  torn  with  grief.  More  than  once  I  have  shed 
tears.  I  am  sorry  for  brother,  sorry  as  can  be.  I 
weep.  Then  I  bethink  myself :  'And  what  is  God  for? 
Is  it  possible  that  God  knows  less  than  we  what 
ought  to  be?'  This  thought  inspires  me  with  cour- 
age. That  is  how  you  all  should  act,  you,  mother  dear, 
and  you,  little  nieces,  and — "  he  turned  to  the  servants 
—"you  all." 

"Look  at  me,  how  well  I  bear  up." 

And  in  the  same  charming  manner  he  proceeded 
to  impersonate  a  man  who  bears  up.  He  straightened 
his  body,  put  one  foot  forward,  expanded  his  chest, 
and  threw  back  his  head.     The  audience  smiled  sourly. 

This  performance  over,  Yudushka  passed  into  the 
drawing-room  and  kissed  his  mother's  hand  again. 

"Well,  so  that's  how  things  are,  mother  dear,"  he 
said,  seating  himself  on  the  couch.  "So  brother  Pavel, 
too." 

"Yes,  Pavel,  too,"  softly  answered  Arina  Petrovna. 

"Yes,  yes — a  little  too  early.  Although  I  play  the 
brave,  in  my  soul  I,  too,  suffer  and  grieve  for  my  poor 
brother.  He  hated  me — hated  me  bitterly.  Maybe 
that  is  why  God  is  punishing  him." 

"You  might  forget  about  it  at  such  a  moment.  You 
must  set  old  grudges  aside." 

"I  have  forgotten  it  all  long  ago.  I  only  mentioned 
it  in  passing.  My  brother  disliked  me,  for  what  rea- 
son, I  know  not.  I  tried  one  way  and  another,  di- 
rectly and  indirectly.  I  called  him  Mear'  and  'kind 
brother,'  but  he  drew  back  and  that  was  the  end  of  it." 

"I  asked  you  please  not  to  bring  all  that  up.  The 
man  is  lying  at  the  point  of  death." 

"Yes,  mother  dear,  death  is  a  great  mystery.     Tor 


114  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

ye  know  neither  the  day  nor  the  hour.'  That's  the 
kind  of  mystery  it  is.  There  he  was  making  plans, 
thinking  he  was  exalted  so  high,  so  high  as  to  be  be- 
yond mortal  reach.  But  in  one  instant  with  one  blow 
God  undid  all  his  dreams.  Perhaps  he  would  be  glad 
now  to  cover  up  his  sins.  But  they  are  already  re- 
corded in  the  Book  of  Life.  And  whatever  is  written 
in  that  book,  n^other  dear,  won't  be  scraped  off  in  a 
hurry." 

''But  does  not  the  Lord  accept  the  sinner's  repen- 
tance?" 

'That's  just  what  I  wish  for  him  from  the  bottom 
of  my  heart.  I  know  he  hated  me,  still  I  wish  him 
forgiveness.  I  wish  the  best  for  everybody — for  those 
that  hate  me,  those  that  insult  me — everybody.  He 
was  unfair  to  me  and  now  God  sends  him  an  ailment 
— not  I,  but  God.     Does  he  suffer  much,  mother  dear?" 

"Well,  not  very  much.  The  doctor  was  here  and 
even  gave  us  hopes."     So  lied  Arina  Petrovna. 

"What  splendid  news !  Don't  you  worry,  dear 
mother,  he'll  pull  through  yet.  Here  we  are  eating 
our  hearts  away  and  grumbling  at  the  Creator,  and 
perhaps  he  is  sitting  quietly  on  his  bed  thanking  the 
Lord  for  his  recovery." 

The  idea  delighted  Yudushka  so  immensely  that  he 
even  giggled  softly  to  himself. 

"Do  you  know,  mother  dear,  that  I  have  come  to 
stay  here  a  while?"  he  went  on,  for  all  the  world  as 
if  he  were  giving  his  mother  a  pleasant  surprise.  "It's 
among  good  kinsmen,  you  know.  In  case  something 
happens — you  understand,  as  a  brother — I  may  con- 
sole, advise,  make  arrangements.  You  will  permit 
me,  will  you  not?" 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK       115 

''What  sort  of  permissions  can  I  give  when  I  am 
here  myself  only  as  a — guest?" 

''Well,  then,  dearest,  since  this  is  Friday,  just  order 
them,  if  you  please,  to  prepare  a  fish  meal  for  me. 
Some  salt-fish,  mushrooms,  a  little  cabbage — you  know, 
I  don't  need  much.  And  in  the  meantime,  as  a  rela- 
tive, I  shall  drag  myself  up  to  the  entresol.  Perhaps 
I  shall  still  be  in  time  to  do  some  good,  if  not  to  his 
body,  at  least  to  his  soul.  In  his  position,  it  seems 
to  me,  the  soul  is  of  much  more  consequence.  We  can 
patch  up  the  body,  mother  dear,  with  potions  and  poul- 
tices, but  the  soul  needs  a  more  potent  remedy." 

Arina  Petrovna  made  no  objection.  The  thought 
of  the  inevitability  of  the  "end"  had  taken  such  com- 
plete hold  of  her,  that  she  observed  everything  and  lis- 
tened to  everything  about  her  dazedly.  She  saw  Yu- 
dushka  rise  from  the  sofa,  stoop  and  shuffle  his  feet. 
He  liked  to  appear  invalided  at  times.  He  had  an 
idea  it  added  to  his  dignity.  She  knew  the  unexpected 
appearance  of  the  Bloodsucker  in  the  entresol  would 
greatly  excite  the  patient,  might  even  hasten  his  end. 
But  after  the  day  of  agitation,  she  was  so  exhausted 
that  she  felt  as  if  in  a  dream. 

Meanwhile  Pavel  Vladimirych  was  in  an  inde- 
scribable state  of  excitement.  Though  quite  alone,  he 
was  aware  of  an  unusual  stir  in  the  house.  Every 
bang  of  a  door,  every  hurried  footstep  in  the  hall 
awakened  a  mysterious  alarm.  For  a  while  he  called 
with  all  his  might;  but,  soon  convinced  his  shouts 
were  useless,  he  gathered  all  his  strength,  sat  up  in 
bed.  and  listened.  The  sound  of  running  feet  and 
loud  voices  stopped  and  was  followed  by  a  dead  silence. 
Something   unknown    and    fearful    surrounded    him. 


ii6  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

Only  a  few,  miserly  rays  of  light  sifted  through  the 
lowered  shades  and  the  dim  light  of  the  lamp  burn- 
ing before  the  ikon  in  the  corner  made  the  dusk  filling 
the  room  seem  all  the  darker  and  gloomier.  Pavel 
fixed  his  gaze  upon  that  mysterious  corner  as  if  for 
the  first  time  he  found  something  surprising  in  it. 
The  ikon,  in  a  gilt  framework  on  which  the  rays  from 
the  lamp  fell  perpendicularly,  stood  out  of  the  gloom 
with  a  sort  of  striking  brightness,  like  something  alive. 
A  circle  of  light  wavered  upon  the  ceiling,  flaring  up 
or  dying  down  in  proportion  to  the  strength  or  weak- 
ness of  the  lamplight.  Strange  shadows  filled  the 
room,  and  the  dressing-gown  hanging  on  the  wall  was 
alive  with  vacillating  stripes  of  light  and  shadow. 
Pavel  Vladimirych  watched  and  watched,  and  he  felt 
as  if  right  there  in  that  corner  everything  were  sud- 
denly beginning  to  move.  Solitude,  helplessness,  dead 
silence — and  shadows,  a  host  of  shadows.  The  shad- 
ows seemed  to  be  coming,  coming,  coming.  Gripped 
by  an  indescribable  terror,  he  gazed  into  the  mysterious 
corner,  eyes  and  mouth  agape,  uttering  no  cries,  but 
simply  groaning — groaning  in  a  stifled  voice,  in  jerks, 
like  the  barking  of  a  dog.  He  heard  neither  the  creak 
of  the  stairs  nor  the  careful  shuffling  steps  in  the  adja- 
cent room.  Suddenly,  beside  his  bed,  there  loomed 
up  the  detestable  figure  of  Yudushka,  as  if  from  that 
gloom  which  had  just  mysteriously  hovered  before  his 
eyes,  and  as  if  there  were  more,  more  of  shadows, 

shadows  without  end^-coming,  coming 

"What?  Where  did  you  come  from?  Who  let 
you  in?"  he  cried  instinctively,  dropping  back  on  his 
pillow  helplessly.  Yudushka  stood  at  the  bedside, 
scrutinizing  the  sick  man  and  shaking  his  head  sor- 
rowfully. 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK       117 

"Does  it  hurt?"  he  asked,  putting  all  the  oiliness  of 
which  he  was  capable  into  his  voice. 

Pavel  Vladimirych  was  silent,  but  stared  at  him 
stupidly,  as  if  making  every  effort  to  understand  him. 

Meanwhile  Yudushka  approached  the  ikon,  fell  to 
his  knees,  bowed  three  times  to  the  ground,  arose  and 
appeared  again  at  the  bedside. 

''Well,  brother,  get  up.  May  God  send  you  grace," 
he  said,  sitting  down  in  an  armchair,  in  a  voice  so 
joviaLthat  he  actually  appeared  to  be  carrying  "grace" 
about  with  him  in  his  pocket. 

At  last  Pavel  Vladimirych  realized  that  this  was  no 
shadow  but  the  Bloodsucker  in  flesh.  He  seemed  to 
coil  up  of  a  sudden  as  if  in  a  cramp.  Yudushka's 
eyes  were  bright  with  affection,  but  the  invalid  very 
distinctly  saw  the  "noose"  lurking  in  those  eyes  ready 
any  instant  to  dart  out  and  tighten  round  his  neck. 

"Ah,  brother,  brother,  you've  become  no  better  than 
an  old  woman,"  Yudushka  continued  jocosely.  "Come, 
brace  up!  Get  up  and  run  a  little  race.  Come  on, 
come  on,  give  mother  the  joy  of  seeing  what  a  strong 
fellow  you  are.     Come  on  now !     Up  with  you !" 

"Get  out  of  here.  Bloodsucker !"  the  invalid  cried 
in  desperation. 

"Ah,  brother,  brother!  I  come  to  you  in  kindness 
and  sympathy,  and  you  .  .  .  what  do  you  say  in 
return  ?  Oh,  what  a  sin !  And  how  could  your 
tongue  say  such  a  thing  to  your  own  brother!  It's  a 
shame,  darling,  it's  a  shame!  Wait  a  minute,  let  me 
arrange  the  pillow  for  you." 

Yudushka  got  up  and  poked  his  finger  into  the 
pillow. 

"Like  this,"  he  continued.     "That's  fine  now.     Lie 


ii8  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

quietly,   now.     You  won't  need  to  touch  it  till  to- 


morrow." 


"You  get  out!" 

"My,  how  cranky  your  illness  has  made  you !  Why, 
you  have  even  become  stubborn,  really.  You  keep 
chasing  me,  'Get  out,  get  out!'  But  how  can  I  go? 
Here,  for  instance,  you  feel  thirsty  and  I  hand  you 
some  water.  Or  I  see  the  ikon  is  out  of  order,  and 
I  set  it  to  rights,  or  pour  in  some  oil.  You  just  lie 
where  you  are  and  I'll  be  sitting  nearby,  real  quietly. 
So  we  won't  even  see  how  time  flies." 

"Get  out,  you  Bloodsucker!" 

"Look  here,  you  are  insulting  me,  but  I  am  going 
to  pray  to  the  Lord  for  you.  I  know  it  isn't  you,  it's 
your  illness  talking.  You  see,  brother,  I  am  used  to 
forgiving.  I  forgive  everybody.  Today,  for  instance, 
as  I  was  coming  here  I  met  a  peasant,  and  he  said 
something  about  me.  Well,  the  Lord  be  with  him. 
He  defiled  his  own  tongue.  And  I,  why  I  not  only  was 
not  angry  at  him,  I  even  made  the  sign  of  the  cross 
over  him,  I  did  truly." 

"You  robbed  him,  didn't  you?" 

"Who,  I?  Why,  no,  my  friend,  I  don't  rob  peo- 
ple; highwaymen  rob,  but  I — I  act  in  accordance  with 
the  law.  I  caught  his  horse  grazing  in  my  meadows — 
well,  let  him  go  to  the  justice  of  the  peace.  If  the 
justice  says  it's  right  to  let  your  cattle  graze  on  other 
people's  fields,  well,  then  I'll  give  him  his  horse  back, 
but  if  the  justice  says  it  isn't  right,  I  am  sorry.  The 
peasant  will  have  Чо  pay  a  fine.  I  act  according  to 
the  law,  my  friend,  according  to  the  law." 
/   "You  Judas  the  traitor,  you  left  mother  a  pauper." 

"I  repeat,  you  may  be  angry,  if  you  please,  but  you 
are  wrong.     If  I  were  not  a  Christian,  I  would  even 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK       119 

have  cause  to  be  angry  at  you  for  what  you've  just 
said." 

*'Yes,  you  did,  you  did  make  mother  a  pauper." 

''Now,  do  be  quiet,  please.  Here,  I  am  going  to 
pray  for  you.     Maybe  that  will  calm  you  down." 

Though  Yudushka  had  restrained  himself  success- 
fully throughout  the  conversation,  the  dying  man's 
curses  affected  him  deeply.  His  lips  curled  queerly 
and  turned  pale.  However,  hypocrisy  was  so  in- 
grained in  his  nature  that  once  the  comedy  was  begun, 
he  could  not  leave  it  unfinished.  So  he  knelt  before 
the  ikon  and  for  fully  fifteen  minutes  murmured  pray- 
ers, his  hands  uplifted.  Thereupon  he  returned  to 
the  dying  man's  bed  with  countenance  calm  and  serene. 

''You  know,  brother,  I  have  come  to  talk  serious 
matters  over  with  you,"  he  said,  seating  himself  in  the 
armchair.  "Here  you  are  insulting  me,  but  I  am  think- 
ing of  your  soul.  Tell  me,  please,  when  did  you  com- 
municate last?" 

"Oh,  Lord!  What  is  all  this?  Take  him  away! 
Ulita,  Agasha!     Anybody  here?"  moaned  Pavel. 

"Now,  now,  darling,  do  be  quiet.  I  know  you  don't 
like  to  talk  about  it.  Yes,  brother,  you  always  were 
a  bad  Christian  and  you  are  still.  But  it  wouldn't  be 
bad,  really  it  wouldn't,  to  give  some  thought  to  your 
soul.  We've  got  to  be  careful  with  our  souls,  my 
friend,  oh,  how  careful!  Do  you  know  what  the 
Church  prescribes?  It  says,  'Ye  shall  offer  prayers 
and  thanks.'  And  again,  'The  end  of  a  Christian's 
earthly  life  is  painless,  honorable  and  peaceable.' 
That's  what  it  is,  my  friend.  You  really  ought  to 
send  for  the  priest  and  sincerely,  with  penitence.  All 
right,  I  won't,  I  won't.     But  really  you'd  better." 

Pavel  Vladimirych  lay  livid  and  nearly  suffocated 


120  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

If  he  could  have,  he  would  have  dashed  his  head  to 
pieces. 

"And  how  about  the  estate?  Have  you  already 
made  arrangements?"  continued  Yudushka.  ''Yours 
is  a  fine  little  estate,  a  very  fine  one.  The  soil  is  even 
better  than  at  Golovliovo.  And  you  have  money,  too, 
I  suppose.  Of  course,  I  don't  know  anything  about 
your  affairs.  I  only  know  that  you  received  a  lump 
sum  on  freeing  your  serfs,  but  exactly  how  much,  I 
never  cared  to  know.  To-day,  for  instance,  as  I  was 
coming  here,  I  said  to  myself,  T  suppose  brother  Pavel 
has  money.'  'But  then,'  I  thought,  'if  he  has  capital, 
he  must  have  decided  already  how  to  dispose  of  it.'  " 

The  patient  turned  away  and  sighed  heavily. 

"You  have  not  made  any  disposition?  Well,  so 
much  the  better,  my  friend.  It's  even  more  just,  ac- 
cording to  the  law.  It  won't  be  inherited  by  strangers, 
but  by  your  own  kind.  Take  me,  for  example,  I  am 
old,  with  one  foot  in  the  grave,  but  still  I  think,  'Why 
should  I  make  disposition  of  my  property  if  the  law 
will  do  it  all  for  me,  after  I  am  dead?'  And  it's  really 
the  right  way,  my  friend.  There  лvill  be  no  quarrels, 
no  envy,  no  lawsuits.     It's  the  law." 

That  was  unbearable.  Pavel  Vladimirych  felt  as 
if  he  were  lying  in  a  coffin,  fettered,  in  lethargy,  un- 
able to  m.ove  a  limb,  and  forced  to  hear  the  Blood- 
sucker revile  his  dead  body. 

"Get  out — for  Christ's  sake,  get  out!"  he  finally 
implored  his  torturer. 

"All  right,  you  just  be  quiet,  I'll  go.  I  know  you 
don't  like  me.  It's  a  shame,  my  friend,  a  real  shame, 
to  dislike  your  own  brother.  You  see,  I  do  love  you. 
And  I've  always  been  telling  my  children,  'Though 
Pavel  Vladimirych  has  sinned  against  me,  yet  I  love 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD   KINSFOLK       121 

him.*  So  you  did  not  make  any  disposition?  Well, 
that's  line,  my  friend.  Sometimes,  though,  one's 
money  is  stolen  while  one  is  yet  alive,  especially  when 
one  is  without  relatives,  all  alone.  But  I'll  take  care 
of  it.  Eh?  What?  Am  I  annoying  you?  Well, 
well,  let  it  be  as  you  wish.  I'll  go.  Let  me  offer  up 
a  prayer." 

He  rose,  placed  his  palms  together,  and  whispered 
a  prayer  hurriedly. 

*'Good-by,  friend,  don't  worry.  Take  a  good  rest, 
and  perhaps  with  God's  help  you  will  get  better.  I 
will  talk  the  matter  over  with  mother  dear.  Maybe 
we'll  think  something  up.  I  have  ordered  a  fish  meal 
for  myself,  some  salt-fish,  some  mushrooms  and  cab- 
bage. So  you'll  pardon  me.  Wliat?  Am  I  annoy- 
ing you  again?  Ah,  brother  dear!  Well,  well,  I'm 
going.  Above  all,  don't  be  alarmed,  don't  be  excited, 
sleep  well  and  take  a  good  rest,"  he  said,  and  finally 
made  his  departure. 

^'Bloodsucker !"  The  word  came  after  him  in  such 
a  piercing  shriek  that  even  he  felt  as  if  he  had  been 
branded  with  a  hot  iron. 


CHAPTER  VI 

While  Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  holding  forth  in 
the  entresol,  grandmother  Arina  Petrovna  had  gath- 
ered the  young  folks  around  her  downstairs,  and  was 
talking  to  them,  not  without  the  hope  of  getting  some- 
thing out  of  them. 

*'Well,  how  are  you?"  she  asked,  turned  to  her  eldest 
grandson,  Petenka. 

'Tm  pretty  well,  granny.  Next  month  Г11  graduate 
as  an  officer." 

"Really?  How  many  years  have  you  been  promis- 
ing that?    Are  the  examinations  so  hard?    Or  what?" 

"At  the  last  examination,  granny,  he  failed  in  his 
catechism.  The  priest  asked  him,  *What  is  God?' 
and  he  answered,  'God  is  Spirit — is  Spirit — and  Holy 
Spirit'  " 

"Oh,  you  poor  thing !  How  is  that  ?  Look  at  those 
little  orphans.     I'm  sure  even  they  know  that." 

"Why,  certainly.  God  is  invisible  Spirit."  An- 
ninka  hurried  to  show  off  her  knowledge. 

"Whom  none  ever  beheld,"  Lubinka  put  in. 

"Omniscient,  most  Gracious,  Omnipotent,  Omni- 
present," Anninka  continued. 

"Whither  can  I  go  from  Thy  spirit  and  Avhither  can 
I  flee  from  Thy  face  ?     Should  I  rise  to  Heaven,  there 

122 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK       123 

wouldst  Thou  be,  should  I  descend  to  Hell,  there 
Avouldst  Thou  be." 

'T  wish  you  would  have  answered  like  that.  You 
would  have  epaulets  by  this  time.  And  how  about 
you,  Volodya,  what  are  you  going  to  do?" 

Volodya  flushed  and  remained  silent. 

"Apparently,  you  go  no  further  than  your  brother 
with  his  'Spirit — Holy  Spirit.'  Ah,  children,  chil- 
dren! You  seem  to  be  so  bright  and  yet  somehow 
you  can't  master  your  studies  at  all.  I  might  under- 
stand if  you  had  a  father  who  spoiled  you.  Tell  me, 
how  does  he  treat  you  now?" 

''Still  the  same  old  way,  granny." 

"Does  he  beat  you?  Didn't  I  hear  he  stopped 
thrashing  'you?" 

"A  little  bit,  but — the  worst  is,  he  pesters  us  to 
death." 

"I  must  say,  I  don't  understand.  How  can  a 
father  pester  his  children?" 

"He  does  though,  grandma,  awfully.  We  can't  go 
out  without  permission,  we  can't  take  a  thing.  It 
couldn't  be  worse." 

"Well,  then,  ask  permission.  Your  tongue  wouldn't 
fall  out  in  the  effort,  I  imagine." 

"Impossible.  You  just  begin  to  talk  to  him,  then 
he  doesn't  let  go  of  you.  'Don't  hurry  and  wait  a 
while.  Gently,  gently,  take  it  easy.'  Really,  granny, 
his  talk  i ,  too  tiresome  for  words." 

"Granny,  he  listens  to  us  on  the  sly  behind  our 
doors.  Just  the  other  day  Piotr  caught  him  in  the 
act." 

"Oh,  you  rogues!     Well,  what  did  he  say?" 

"Nothing.  I  said  to  him,  'It  won't  do,  daddy,  for 
you  to  eavesdrop  at  our  doors.     Some  day  you  may 


124  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

get  your  nose  squashed.  And  all  he  said  was,  Well, 
well,  it's  nothing,  it's  nothing.  I,  my  child,  am  like 
a  thief  in  the  night,  as  it  says  in  the  Bible.'  " 

"The  other  day,  granny,  he  picked  up  an  apple  in 
the  orchard,  and  put  it  away  in  a  cupboard.  I  ate  it 
up.  So  he  hunted  and  hunted  for  it,  and  cross-exam- 
ined everybody." 

"What  do  you  mean?     Has  he  become  a  miser?" 

"No,  he's  not  exactly  stingy,  but — how  shall  I  put 

it?     He  is   just  swamped  head   over   heels   in   little 

things.     He  hides  slips  of  paper,  and  he  hunts  for 

wind-fallen  fruit." 

"Every  morning  he  says  mass  in  his  study,  and  later 
he  gives  each  of  us  a  little  piece  of  holy  wafer,  stale 
as  stale  can  be." 

"But  once  we  played  a  trick  on  him.     We  discover- 
ed where  he  keeps  the  wafers,  made  a  cut  in  the  bottom 
of  them,  took  out  the  pulp,  and  stuck  butter  in." 
"Well,  I  must  say  you  are  regular  cut-throats." 
"My,  just  imagine  his  surprise,  next  day.     Wafers 
with  butter!" 

"I  suppose  you  got  it  good  and  hard  afterwards." 
"No,  not  a  bit.     But  he  kept  spitting  all  day  and 
muttering  to  himself,   'The  rascals !'     Of  course  we 
made  believe  he  didn't  mean  us." 

"Let  me  tell  you,  granny,  he  is  afraid  of  you." 
"Of  me !     I'm  not  a  scarecrow  to  frighten  him." 
"I'm  sure  he's  scared  of  you.     He  thinks  you'll  put 
a  curse  on  him.     He's  desperately  afraid  of  curses." 
Arina  Petrovna  became  lost  in  thought.     At  first 
the  idea  passed  through  her  mind:  "What  if  I  really 
should  put  a  curse  on  him — just  take  and  curse  him?" 
But  the  thought  was  instantly  replaced  by  a  more  press- 
ing question,  "What  is  Yudushka  doing  now?     What 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD   KINSFOLK       125 

tricks  is  he  playing  upstairs?  He  must  be  up  to  one 
of  his  usual  tricks."     Finally  a  happy  idea  struck  her. 

"Volodya,"  she  said,  "yo^^»  ^^^^  heart,  are  light 
on  your  feet.  Why  shouldn't  you  go  softly  and  listen 
to  what's  going  on  up  there?" 

''Gladly,  granny." 

Volodya  tiptoed  toward  the  doors  and  disappeared 
through  them. 

"What  made  you  come  over  to  us  to-day?"  Arina 
Petrovna  continued  with  her.  questioning. 

"We  meant  to  come  a  long  time  ago,  grandma,  but 
today  Ulita  sent  a  messenger  to  say  the  doctor  had 
been  here  and  uncle  was  going  to  die,  if  not  to-day, 
then  surely  to-morrow." 

"Tell  me,  is  there  any  talk  among  you  about  the 
heritage?" 

"We  keep  talking  about  it  the  whole  day,  granny. 
Papa  tells  us  how  it  used  to  be  before  grandpa's  time. 
He  even  remembers  Goriushkino,  granny.  'See  now,* 
he  says,  'if  Auntie  Varvara  Mikhailovna  had  no  chil- 
dren, then  Goriushkino  would  be  ours.  And  God 
knows,'  he  says,  'who  the  children's  father  is.  But 
let  us  not  judge  others.  We  see  a  mote  in  the  eye  of 
our  neighbor,  but  fail  to  notice  a  beam  in  our  own. 
That's  how  the  world  goes,  brother.'  " 

"Nonsense,  nonsense.  Auntie  was  married,  was  she 
not?  Even  if  there  had  been  anything  before  that, 
the  marriage  made  it  all  straight." 

"That's  true,  grandma,  and  each  time  we  go  past 
Goriushkino,  he  brings  up  the  same  old  tale :  'Grand- 
ma Natalya  Vladimirovna,'  he  says,  'brought  Goriush- 
kino as  a  dowry.  By  all  rights  it  should  have  stayed 
in  the  family.  But  your  deceased  grandfather  gave 
it  to  sister  as  a  dot.     And  what  wonderful  water- 


12б  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

melons/  he  says,  'used  to  grow  at  Goriushkino! 
Twenty  pounds  each.  That's  the  kind  of  watermelons 
that  grew  there  Г  " 

"Twenty  pounds,  bosh!  I  never  heard  of  such 
melons.  Well,  and  what  are  his  intentions  about  Du- 
brovino  ?" 

"In  the  same  line,  granny.  Watermelons  and 
muskmelons  and  other  trifles.  But  of  late  he  has  con- 
stantly been  asking  us,  'What  do  you  think,  children, 
has  uncle  Pavel  much  money?'  He  has  had  it  all  fig- 
ured out  for  a  long  time,  grandma :  the  amount  of  re- 
demption loan,  and  when  the  property  was  mortgaged, 
and  how  much  debt  is  paid  off.  We  even  saw  the 
paper  on  which  he  made  the  calculations;  and  guess 
what,  granny,  we  stole  it.  We  nearly  drove  him 
crazy  with  that  slip  of  paper.  He'd  put  it  in  a  draw- 
er, and  we'd  match  the  key  and  stick  it  into  a  holy 
wafer.  Once  he  went  to  take  a  bath,  when  lo  and  be- 
hold! he  saw  the  paper  lying  on  the  bath  shelf." 

"You've  a  gay  life  up  there." 

Volodenka  returned  and  became  the  center  of 
general  attention. 

"I  couldn't  hear  a  thing,"  he  announced  in  a  whis- 
per, "the  only  thing  I  heard  was  father  mouthing  words 
like  'painless,  untarnished,  peaceful,'  and  uncle  shout- 
ing, 'Get  out  of  here,  you  Bloodsucker !'  " 

"Didn't  you  hear  anything  about  the  will?" 

"I  think  there  was  something  said  about  it,  but  I 
couldn't  make  it  out.  Father  shut  the  door  entirely 
too  tight,  granny.  Only  a  buzzing  came  through. 
And  then  suddenly  uncle  yelled,  'Get — get  out !'  Well 
then  I  took  to  my  heels  and  here  I  am." 

"If   only  the  orphans  were  given "   anxiously 

thought  Arina  Petrovna. 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD   KINSFOLK        127 

"If  father  gets  his  hands  on  it,  granny,  he'll  not 
give  a  thing  to  anyone,"  Petenka  assured  her.  "And 
I  have  a  feeling  he's  even  going  to  deprive  us  of  the 
inheritance." 

"Still,  he  can't  take  it  to  the  grave  with  him,  can  he?" 

"No,  but  he'll  think  up  some  scheme.  It  wasn't  for 
nothing  that  he  had  a  talk  with  the  priest  not  long 
ago.  'How  does  the  idea  of  building  a  tower  of 
Babel  strike  you,  Father?'  he  asked.  'Would  one 
need  much  money?'  " 

"Well,  he  just  said  that  perhaps  out  of  curiosity." 

"No,  granny,  he  has  some  plan  in  mind.  If  it  isn't 
for  a  tower  of  Babel,  he'll  donate  the  money  to  the  St. 
Athos  monastery;  but  he'll  make  sure  we  don't  get 
any." 

"Will  father  get  a  big  estate  when  uncle  dies?" 
asked  Volodya,  curiously. 

"Well,  God  alone  knows  which  of  them  will  die 
first.'* 

"Father  is  sure  he'll  outlive  uncle.  The  other  day, 
just  as  soon  as  we  reached  the  boundary  of  the  Du- 
brovino  estate,  he  took  off  his  cap,  crossed  himself, 
and  said,  Thank  God  we'll  be  riding  again  on  our 
own  land !'  " 

"He's  made  arrangements  for  everything  already, 
granny.  He  noticed  the  woods.  'There,'  he  says, 
'if  there  were  a  good  landlord,  that  would  be  a  ripping 
fine  forest.'  Then  he  looked  at  the  meadows.  'What 
a  meadow!  Just  look!  Look  at  all  those  hay 
stacks!'" 

"Yes,  indeed,  both  the  woods  and  the  meadows, 
everything  will  be  yours,  my  darlings,"  sighed  Arina 
Petrovna.  "Goodness !  Wasn't  that  a  squeak  on  the 
Stairs?" 


128  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"Hush,  granny,  hush!  That's  he — 'Hke  a  thief  in 
the  night,'  Hstening  behind  the  doors." 

There  was  a  silence,  but  it  proved  to  be  a  false 
alarm.  Arina  Petrovna  sighed  and  muttered  to  her- 
self, "Ah,  children,  children!" 

The  boys  stared  at  the  orphans,  fairly  swallowing 
them  with  their  gaze,  while  the  little  orphans  sat  in 
silent  envy. 

"Did  you  see  Mademoiselle  Lotar,  cousin?"  Peten- 
ka  started  a  conversation. 

Anninka  and  Lubinka  exchanged  glances  as  if  they 
had  been  asked  a  question  in  history  or  geography. 

"In  Fair  Helen  she  plays  the  part  of  Helen  on  the 
stage." 

"Oh,  yes — Helen — Paris — 'Beautiful  and  young,  he 
set  the  hearts  of  the  goddesses  aflame — '  I  know,  I 
know  it,"  cried  Lubinka  joyfully. 

"Exactly.  And  how  she  sings  'Cas-ca-ader,  ca-as- 
cader.'     It's  great." 

"The  doctor  who  was  just  here  keeps  humming 
'Head  over  heels'  " 

"That  is  Lyadova's  song.  Wasn't  she  splendid, 
cousin  ?  When  she  died,  nearly  two  thousand  persons 
followed  the  hearse.  People  thought  there  would  be 
a  revolution." 

"Is  it  about  theatres  you're  chattering?"  broke  in 
Arina  Petrovna.  "Well,  their  destiny  lies  far  from 
theatres,  my  boys.     It  leads  rather  to  the  convent." 

"Granny,  you've  set  your  mind  on  burying  us  in 
a  convent,"  complained  Anninka. 

"Come,  cousin,  let's  go  to  St.  Petersburg  instead  of 
to  a  convent.  We'll  show  you  everything  to  be  seen 
there." 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD   KINSFOLK       129 

"Their  minds  should  not  be  occupied  with  thoughts 
of  pleasure,  but  rather  with  thoughts  of  God,"  con- 
tinued Arina  Petrovna  sententiously. 

"We  will  teach  you  everything  under  the  sun.  In 
St.  Petersburg  there  are  lots  of  girls  like  you.  They 
walk  about  swinging  their  skirts." 

"Stop  bothering  them,  for  Christ's  sake,  you  teach- 
ers," Arina  Petrovna  interjected.  "Nice  things  you 
can  teach  them." 

"I'm  going  to  take  them  to  Khotkov,  after  Uncle 
Pavel's  death,  and  we'll  settle  down  comfortably 
there." 

"So  you're  still  at  your  blabbing,"  a  voice  at  the 
door  suddenly  broke  in. 

Engrossed  in  conversation  nobody  had  heard  Yu- 
dushka  steal  up  "like  a  thief  in  the  night."  He  was 
all  in  tears,  his  head  was  bowed,  his  face  pale,  his 
hands  crossed  on  his  breast,  his  lips  mumbling  in 
prayer.  For  a  few  moments  his  eyes  sought  the  ikons, 
then  found  them  and  for  a  brief  while  he  prayed. 

"He's  very  ill.  Ah,  how  ill  he  is !"  he  finally  ex- 
claimed, embracing  his  mother  dear. 

"Is  he?" 

"Very,  very  ill,  dear  heart.  And  do  you  recollect 
what  a  strong  fellow  he  was?" 

"Well,  he  was  never  exactly  strong.  I  can't  re- 
member that,  somehow." 

"Ah  no,  mother  dear,  don't  say  that.  He  was,  al- 
ways. I  remember  perfectly  when  he  left  the  cadets 
corps  how  well  shaped  he  was,  broad  shouldered,  glow- 
ing with  health.  Yes,  yes,  mother  dear,  that's  how  it 
is.  We're  all  in  God's  hands.  To-day  we're  strong,  in 
the  best  of  health,  we  want  to  enjoy  life  to  have  a 


I30  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  assumed  deep  emo- 
tion. 

*'Did  he  say  anything  at  least  ?'^ 

''Very  little,  dearest.  The  only  thing  he  said  was, 
'Good-by,  brother.'  And  yet,  mother  dear,  he  can 
feel.     He  feels  that  he  is  in  a  bad  way." 

"Well,  no  wonder  he  feels  he  is  in  a  bad  way  when 
he  can  hardly  catch  his  breath." 

"No,  mother  dear,  that's  not  what  I  mean.  I  have 
in  mind  the  inner  vision  which  is  given  to  the  right- 
eous and  which  allows  them  to  foresee  their  death." 

"Yes,  yes !     Didn't  he  say  anything  about  his  will  ?" 

"No,  mother.  He  wanted  to  say  something  about 
it,  but  I  stopped  him.  'No,'  I  said,  'don't  talk  about 
that!'  Whatever  you  leave  me,  brother,  out  of  the 
kindness  of  your  heart,  I  shall  be  satisfied.  And  even 
if  you  leave  me  nothing,  I'll  have  mass  said  for  you 
at  my  own  expense.'  And  yet,  mother  dear,  how  he 
wants  to  live!     How  he  longs  for  life!" 

"Of  course,  who  doesn't  want  to  live?" 

"No,  mother.  Take  myself,  for  example.  If  it 
pleased  the  Lord  God  to  call  me  to  Himself,  I'm  ready 
on  the  spot." 

"All  well  and  good  if  you  go  to  Heaven,  but  what 
if  Satan  gets  you  between  his  fangs?" 

In  this  vein  the  talk  continued  till  supper,  during 
supper,  and  after  supper.  Arina  Petrovna  was  very 
restless.  While  Yudushka  was  expatiating  on  various 
subjects,  the  thought  entered  her  mind  at  shorter  and 
shorter  intervals, "What  if  I  should  really  curse  him?" 
But  Yudushka  had  not  the  slightest  suspicion  of  the 
storm  raging  in  his  mother's  heart.  He  had  an  air 
of  serenity,  and  continued  slowly  and  gently  to  tor- 
ture his  "mother  dear"  with  his  endless  twaddle. 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK       131 

"I'll  curse  him!  I'll  curse  him!  Curse  him!" 
Arina  Petrovna  repeated  inwardly,  with  greater  and 
greater  determination. 


CHAPTER  VII 

An  odor  of  incense  pervaded  the  rooms,  the  sing- 
song of  funeral  chants  was  heard  in  the  house, 
the  doors  were  thrown  open,  those  wishing  to  pay 
their  last  respects  to  the  deceased  came  and  went. 
While  Pavel  Vladimir3^ch  lived,  nobody  had  paid  any 
attention  to  him;  at  his  death  everybody  mourned. 
People  recalled  that  he  ''had  never  hurt  a  single  per- 
son," that  'Ъе  had  never  uttered  a  cross  word  to  any- 
one," nor  thrown  anyone  a  look  of  ill-will — all  quali- 
ties that  had  appeared  purely  negative,  but  now  as- 
sumed a  positive  character.  Many  seemed  to  repent 
that  at  times  they  had  taken  advantage  of  the  dead 
man's  simplicity — but  after  all,  who  knew  that  the 
simple  soul  was  destined  to  so  speedy  an  end?  One 
peasant  brought  Yudushka  three  silver  rubles  and 
said :  ''Here's  a  little  debt  I  owe  Pavel  Vladimirych. 
No  writing  passed  between  us.     Here,  take  it." 

Yudushka  took  the  money,  praised  the  peasant,  and 
said  he  would  donate  the  three  silver  rubles  for  oil 
to  burn  forever  before  an  ikon  in  the  church. 

"You,  my  dear  friend,  will  see  the  flame,  and  every- 
body will  see  it,  and  the  soul  of  my  deceased  brother 
will  rejoice.  Maybe  he  will  obtain  something  for  you 
in  Heaven.  You  лvon't  be  expecting  anything — and 
suddenly  the  Lord  will  send  you  luck." 

Very  probably  the  high  estimate  of  the  deceased's 

132 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK       133 

virtues  was  largely  based  on  a  comparison  between  him 
and  his  brother.  People  did  not  like  Yudushka.  Not 
that  they  couldn't  get  the  better  of  him,  but  that  he 
was  entirely  too  much  of  a  nuisance  with  his  scrape- 
penny  ways.  Very  few  could  bring  themselves  to 
lease  land  from  him.  They  were  afraid  of  his  pas- 
sion for  litigation.  He  dragged  any  number  of  people 
to  court,  wasted  their  time,  and  won  nothing,  because 
his  pettifogging  habits  were  so  well  known  in  the  dis- 
trict that  almost  without  listening  to  the  case  the  courts 
dismissed  his  claims. 

Since  meanness,  or,  to  be  more  exact,  a  kind  of 
moral  hardness,  especially  when  under  the  mask  of 
hypocrisy,  always  inspires  a  sort  of  superstitious  fear, 
Yudushka's  neighbors  bowed  waist  low  as  they  passed 
by  the  Bloodsucker,  standing  all  in  black  beside  the 
coffin  with  palms  crossed  and  eyes  raised  upward. 

As  long  as  the  deceased  lay  in  the  house,  the  family 
Avalked  about  on  tip-toe,  stole  glances  into  the  dining- 
room,  where  the  coffin  stood  on  the  table,  wagged 
their  heads,  and  talked  in  whispers.  Yudushka  pre- 
tended to  be  overcome  by  the  disaster,  and  shuffled 
painfully  along  the  corridor,  paid  a  visit  to  the  "dear 
deceased,"  affected  deep  emotional  stress,  arranged  the 
pall  on  the  coffin,  and  whispered  to  the  commissioner 
of  police,  who  was  taking  the  inventory  and  affixing 
the  seal.  Petenka  and  Volodenka  busied  themselves 
about  the  coffin,  placing  and  lighting  the  candles,  hand- 
ing over  the  censer,  and  so  fortl;^.  Anninka  and  Lu- 
binka  cried  and  through  their  tears  helped  the  chanters 
sing  the  mass  for  the  dead  in  thin  little  voices.  The 
woman  servants,  dressed  in  black  calico,  wiped  their 
noses  red  from  weeping  on  their  aprons. 

Immediately  after  the  death  of  Pavel  Vladimirych, 


134  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

Arina  Petrovna  went  up  to  her  room  and  locked  her- 
self in.  She  was  not  disposed  to  weep,  for  she  real- 
ized that  she  had  to  decide  upon  a  course  of  action 
immediately.  To  remain  at  Dubrovino  was  out  of 
the  question.  Consequently,  she  had  only  one  choice, 
to  go  to  Pogorelka,  the  orphans'  estate,  the  "bone" 
that  she  had  once  thrown  to  her  disrespectful  daughter, 
Anna  Vladimirovna.  Arriving  at  this  decision,  she 
felt  relieved,  as  though  Yudushka  had  suddenly  and 
forever  lost  all  power  over  her.  Calmly  she  counted  her 
five  per  cent.  Government  bonds.  They  totalled  fifteen 
thousand  rubles  of  her  own,  and  as  much  belonging 
to  the  orphans,  which  she  had  saved  up  for  them.  And 
she  went  on  composedly  to  calculate  how  much  money 
she  would  have  to  spend  to  put  the  Pogorelka  manor- 
house  in  order.  Then  she  immediately  sent  for  the 
bailiff  of  Pogorelka,  gave  the  necessary  orders  about 
hiring  carpenters  and  sending  a  horse  and  cart  to  Du- 
brovino for  her  and  the  orphans'  belongings,  ordered 
the  coach  to  be  made  ready  (the  coach  was  her  own, 
and  she  had  evidence  that  it  was  her  very  own),  and 
began  to  pack.  She  felt  neither  hatred  nor  goodwill 
toward  Yudushka.  It  suddenly  became  disgusting  to 
her  to  have  any  dealings  with  him.  She  even  ate  un- 
willingly and  little,  because  from  that  day  she  had  to 
eat  not  Pavel's  but  Yudushka's  food.  Several  times 
Porfiry  Vladimirych  peeped  into  her  room  to  have  a 
chat  with  his  ''mother  dear."  He  understood  the 
meaning  of  her  packing  clearly,  but  pretended  to  notice 
nothing.     Arina  Petrovna  refused  to  see  him. 

"Go,  my  friend,  go,"  she  said.     "I  have  no  time.'^ 

In  three  days,  Arina  Petrovna  had  everything  in 

readiness  for  departure.     They  heard  mass,  performed 

the  funeral  service,  and  buried   Pavel  Vladimirych. 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK       135 

At  the  funeral  everything  happened  just  as  Arina 
Petrovna  had  imagined  on  the  morning  when  Yudush- 
ka  came  to  Dubrovino.  In  the  very  way  she  had  fore- 
seen Yudushka  cried  out,  "Farewell,  brother!"  when 
they  lowered  the  coffin  into  the  grave,  and  turned  to 
Ulita  and  said  hastily :  ''Don't  forget — don't  forget  to^ 
take  the  kutya,  and  put  it  in  the  dining-room  on  a 
clean  table  cloth.  We  wall  honor  brother's  memory 
in  the  house,  too." 

Three  churchmen,  the  Father  Provost  and  a  deacon, 
were  invited  to  the  dinner  served,  as  is  the  custom,  im- 
mediately on  the  return  from  the  funeral  ceremony. 
A  special  table  was  laid  in  the  entrance  hall  for  the 
sextons.  Arina  Petrovna  and  the  orphans  entered 
clad  in  travelling  clothes,  but  Yudushka  pretended 
even  then  not  to  understand.  He  went  over  to  the 
table,  requested  the  Father  Provost  to  bless  the  food 
and  drink,  poured  a  glassful  of  vodka  for  himself  and 
the  churchmen,  put  on  an  air  of  deep  emotion  and 
said,  ''Everlasting  memory  to  the  late  deceased !  Ah, 
brother,  brother,  you  have  forsaken  us!  Who  of  us 
more  than  you  was  fit  to  live  a  happy  life?  How  sad, 
brother,  how  sad!" 

Then  he  crossed  himself,  and  emptied  the  glass.  He 
crossed  himself  again  and  swallowed  a  piece  of  caviar, 
crossed  himself  again  and  took  a  taste  of  dried  stur- 
geon. 

"Eat,  Father,"  he  urged  the  Provost.  "All  this  is 
my  late  brother's  stock.  How  the  deceased  loved  good 
fare!  Not  only  that  he  ate  well  himself,  but  he  even 
liked  treating  others  better.  Ah,  brother,  brother,  you 
have  forsaken  us !  How  wrong  it  was  of  you,  brother, 
how  very  wrong!"  с 

He  was  so  carried  away  by  his  incessant  chatter 


13б  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

that  he  even  forgot  about  his  dear  mother.  But  sud- 
denly she  came  to  his  mind  as  he  scooped  up  a  spoonful 
of  mushrooms  and  was  about  to  send  it  down  his 
mouth. 

"Mother,  dearest,  darhng!"  he  exclaimed.  "I,  the 
fool,  am  here,  gorging  myself.  What  a  sin !  Mother 
dear,  help  yourself.  Some  mushrooms.  These  are 
Dubrovino  mushrooms.     The  famous  ones." 

But  Arina  Petrovna  did  not  stir.  She  only  shook 
her  head  in  silence.  She  seemed  listening  to  some- 
thing with  intense  curiosity,  a  new  light  seemed  to  fill 
her  eyes,  as  if  the  comedy  to  which  she  had  long  since 
become  accustomed  and  in  which  she  had  always  taken 
active  part,  suddenly  presented  itself  to  her  in  a 
changed  light. 

The  dinner  commenced  with  a  brief,  pathetic  dis- 
cussion. Yudushka  insisted  that  Arina  Petrovna 
should  take  the  hostess's  place  at  the  head  of  the  table. 
Arina  Petrovna  refused. 

*'No,  you  are  the  host  here,  so  sit  where  you  please," 
she  said  drily. 

"You  are  the  hostess.  You,  mother  dear,  are  the 
hostess  everywhere,  both  at  Golovliovo  and  Dubro- 
vino, everywhere,"  said  Yudushka,  trying  to  convince 
her. 

"Do  stop  and  sit  down.  Wherever  it  will  be  the 
Lord's  will  to  place  me  as  a  mistress,  I  will  sit  where 
I  choose.    Here  you  are  master — so  you  take  the  seat." 

"Then  this  is  what  we'll  do,"  said  Yudushka,  much 
moved.  "We'll  leave  the  cover  at  the  host's  seat  un- 
touched, as  if  our  brother  were  with  us,  an  invisible 
companion.  He  shall  be  host,  and  we  shall  all  be  his 
guests."  t 

That  is  how  they  arranged  it.     While  the  soup  was 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK       137 

being  served,  Yudushka  chose  a  proper  subject  and 
started  a  conversation  with  the  priests,  addressing  most 
of  his  remarks,  however,  to  the  Father  Provost. 

"There  are  many  people  nowadays  who  do  not  be- 
lieve in  the  immortahty  of  the  soul,  but  I  do,"  he  said. 

''Well,  they  must  be  desperadoes,"  answered  the 
Father  Provost. 

''Not,  not  that  they  are  desperadoes,  but  there  is 
is  a  science  about  the  soul  not  being  immortal.  It  says 
that  man  exists  all  by  himself.  He  lives  and  then  sud- 
denly— dies." 

"There  are  too  many  sciences  nowadays — if  only 
there  were  less  of  them.  People  believe  in  sciences  and 
don't  believe  in  God.  Take  the  peasants — even  the 
peasants  want  to  become  learned." 

"Yes,  Father,  you  are  right.  They  do  long  to  be- 
come learned.  Take  my  Naglovo  peasants.  They 
have  nothing  to  eat,  and  still  the  other  day  they  passed 
a  resolution — they  want  to  open  up  a  school.  The 
scholais!" 

"Nowadays  there  is  a  science  for  everything  under 
the  sun.  One  science  for  rain,  another  science  for 
fine  weather,  and  so  on.  Formerly  it  was  a  very 
simple  matter.  People  would  come  and  sing  a  Те 
Deum — and  the  Lord  would  grant  them  their  prayer. 
If  they  needed  fine  weather,  God  would  grant  fine 
weather;  if  they  needed  rain,  the  Lord  had  enough  of 
it  to  go  round.  God  has  enough  of  everything.  But 
since  people  have  begun  to  live  according  to  science, 
everything  has  changed,  everything  happens  out  of 
season.  You  sow — there  is  drought ;  you  mow — there 
is  rain." 

"You  speak  the  truth,  Father,  the  gospel  truth. 
Formerly  people  used  to  pray  more  to  God,  and  the 


138  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

earth  was  more  plentiful.  The  harvests  were  not  like 
now.  They  were  four  times,  five  times,  richer.  The 
earth  produced  in  abundance.  Doesn't  mother  re- 
member? Don't  you  remember,  mother  dear?"  asked 
Yudushka,  turning  to  Arina  Petrovna  with  the  in- 
tention of  drawing  her  into  the  discussion. 

*T  never  heard  anything  like  that  in  our  parts. 
Maybe  you're  speaking  of  the  land  of  Canaan.  It  is 
said  that  was  really  the  case  there,"  drily  responded 
Arina  Petrovna. 

"Yes,  yes,  yes,"  said  Yudushka,  as  if  he  had  not 
heard  his  mother's  remark,  ''they  don't  believe  in  God, 
they  don't  believe  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  but 
they  want  to  eat  all  the  same." 

'That's  just  it — all  they  want  is  to  eat  and  drink," 
repeated  the  Father  Provost,  rolling  up  the  sleeves  of 
his  cassock  to  reach  a  piece  of  the  funeral  pie  and 
put  it  on  his  plate. 

Everybody  attacked  the  soup.  For  a  while  nothing 
was  heard  but  the  clink  of  the  spoons  on  the  plates 
and  the  puffing  of  the  priests  as  they  blew  upon  the 
hot  Hquid. 

"Now  as  for  the  Roman  Catholics,"  continued  Yu- 
dushka, stopping  to  eat,  "although  they  do  not  deny 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  yet  they  claim  the  soul 
does  not  land  straight  in  hell  or  in  heaven,  but  stays 
for  a  while  in  a  sort  of  middle  place." 

"That,  too,  is  preposterous." 

"To  tell  you  the  truth.  Father,"  said  Porfiry  Vladi- 
mirych,  deep  in  thought,  "if  we  take  the  point  of  view 
of " 

"There  is  no  use  discussing  nonsense.  How  goes 
the  song  of  our  Holy  Church?  It  says,  Tn  a  grassy 
place,  in  a  cool  place,  in  which  there  is  neither  sighing 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK       139 

nor  sorrow/  So  of  what  use  is  it  to  talk  of  a  'middle* 
place?" 

Yudushka  did  not  fully  agree  and  wanted  to  make 
some  sort  of  objection,  but  Arina  Petrovna,  growing 
annoyed  at  the  conversation,  stopped  him. 

"Well,  eat,  eat,  you  theologian.  I  guess  your  soup 
is  cold  by  now,"  she  said,  and  to  change  the  topic  she 
turned  to  the  Father  Provost.  **Have  you  gathered 
in  the  rye  yet.  Father?" 

"Yes,  madam.  This  time  the  rye  is  good,  but  the 
spring  wheat  doesn't  promise  well.  The  young  oat 
seeds  are  ripening  too  soon.  Neither  straw  nor  oats 
can  be  expected." 

"They  are  comiplaining  everywhere  about  the  oats," 
sighed  Arina  Petrovna,  watching  Yudushka  scoop  up 
the  last  dregs  of  his  soup. 

Another  dish  was  served,  ham  and  peas.  Yudushka 
took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  resume  the 
broken  conversation. 

"I'll  wager  the  Jews  don't  eat  this,"  he  said. 

"Jews  are  dirty,"  responded  the  Father  Provost. 
"So  people  mock  them,  calling  them  *pig's  ears.'  " 

"But  the  Tartars  don't  eat  ham  either.  There  must 
be  some  reason  for  it." 

"The  Tartars  are  dirty,  too.     That's  the  reason." 

"We  don't  eat  horse  flesh,  and  the  Tartars  refuse 
pigs'  meat.  They  say  rats  were  eaten  during  the  siege 
in  Paris." 

"Well,  they  were — French !" 

The  whole  supper  passed  in  this  way.  When  carp 
in  cream  was  served,  Yudushka  expatiated :  "Fall  to, 
Father.  These  are  not  ordinary  carp.  They  were  a 
favorite  dish  of  my  departed  brother." 

Asparagus  being  served,  Yudushka  said: 


I40  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"Just  look  at  that  asparagus!  You'd  have  to  pay 
a  silver  ruble  for  asparagus  like  that  in  St.  Petersburg. 
My  deceased  brother  was  so  fond  of  it.  Bless  it, 
look  how  thick  it  is." 

Arina  Petrovna  was  boiling  with  impatience.  A 
whole  hour  gone  and  only  half  the  supper  eaten.  Yu- 
dushka  seemed  to  hold  it  back  on  purpose.  He  would 
eat  something,  put  down  his  knife  and  fork,  chatter 
a  while,  eat  a  bit  again,  and  chatter  again.  How 
often,  in  bygone  days,  had  Arina  Petrovna  scolded 
him  for  it.  "Why  don't  you  eat,  you  devil — God  for- 
give me."  But  he  seemed  to  have  forgotten  her  in- 
structions. Or  perhaps  he  had  not  forgotten  them, 
but  was  acting  that  way  on  purpose,  to  avenge  himself. 
Or  maybe  he  wasn't  even  avenging  himself  consciously. 
He  might  just  be  letting  his  devilish  inner  self  have 
free  play.     Finally  the  roast  was  served. 

At  the  very  moment  that  all  rose  and  the  Father 
Provost  was  beginning  to  intone  the  hymn  about  "the 
beatific  deceased,"  a  noise  broke  out  in  the  corridor. 
Shouts  were  heard  that  entirely  spoiled  the  effect  of 
the  prayer. 

"What's  that  noise?"  shouted  Porfiry  Vladimirych. 
*'Do  they  take  this  for  a  public-house?" 

"For  mercy's  sake,  don't  yell.  That  is  my — those 
are  my  trunks.  They  are  being  transferred,"  re- 
sponded Arina  Petrovna.  Then  she  added  with  a 
touch  of  sarcasm:  "Perhaps  you  intend  to  inspect 
them?" 

A  sudden  silence  fell.  Even  Yudushka  turned  pale 
and  became  confused.  He  realized  instantly,  how- 
ever, that  somehow  he  had  to  soften  the  effect  of  his 
mother's  unpleasant  words.  Turning  to  the  Father 
Provost,  he  began : 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK       141 

"Take  woodcocks  for  instance.  They  are  plentiful 
in  Russia,  but  in  other  lands '* 

*Tor  Christ's  sake,  why  don't  you  eat?  We've  got 
twenty-five  versts  to  go  and  make  them  before  dark," 
Arina  Petrovna  cut  him  short.  "Petenka,  dear,  go 
hurry  them  in  there,  and  see  that  they  serve  the  pastry." 

For  a  few  moments  there  was  silence.  Porfiry 
Vladimirych  quickly  finished  his  piece  of  woodcock. 
His  face  was  pale,  his  lips  trembled,  and  he  sat  tapping 
his  foot  on  the  floor. 

"You  insult  me,  mother  dear.  You  hurt  me  deep- 
ly," he  declared,  finally,  but  avoided  his  mother's  eyes. 

"Who  is  insulting  you?  And  how  am  I  hurting 
you — so  deeply?" 

"It  is  very — very  insulting.  So  insulting,  so  very 
insulting!  To  think  of  your  going  away — at  such  a 
moment!  You  have  lived  here  all  the  time — and 
suddenly — and  then  you  mention  the  trunks — in- 
spection— what  an  insult !" 

"Well,  then,  if  you're  anxious  to  know  all  about  it, 
why,  I'll  satisfy  you.  I  lived  here  as  long  as  my  son 
Pavel  was  alive.  He  died — and  I  leave.  And  if  you 
want  to  know  about  the  trunks,  why,  Ulita  has  been 
watching  me  for  a  long  time  at  your  orders.  And 
concerning  myself — it's  better  to  tell  your  mother 
straight  to  her  face  that  she's  under  suspicion  than  ta 
hiss  at  her  behind  her  back  like  a  snake." 

"Mother  dear!     But  you — but  I "  groaned  Yu- 

dushka. 

"You've  said  enough,"  Arina  Petrovna  cut  him 
short.     "And  I've  had  my  say." 

"But,  how  could  I,  mother  dear " 

"I  tell  you,  I'm  through.  For  Christ's  sake,  let  me 
go  in  peace.     The  coach  is  ready,  I  hear." 


142  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

The  sound  of  tinkling  bells  and  an  approaching  ve- 
hicle came  from  the  courtyard.  Arina  Petrovna  was 
the  first  to  arise  from  the  table.     The  others  followed. 

"Now  let  us  sit  down  for  a  moment,  and  then  we're 
off,"  she  said,  going  towards  the  parlor. 

They  sat  a  while  in  silence.  By  that  time  Yudushka 
had  entirely  recovered  his  presence  of  mind. 

"After  all,  why  shouldn't  you  live  at  Dubrovino, 
mother  dear?  Just  see  how  nice  it  is  here,"  he  said, 
looking  into  his  mother's  eyes  with  the  caressing  ex- 
pression of  a  guilty  cur. 

"No,  my  friend,  that's  enough.  I  don't  want  to 
leave  you  with  unpleasant  words,  but  I  can't  stay  here. 
What  for?    Father,  let  us  pray." 

Everybody  rose  in  prayer,  then  Arina  Petrovna 
kissed  everybody  good-by,  blessed  them  all,  and  with 
a  hea^y  step  went  toward  the  door.  Porfiry  Vladi- 
mirych,  at  the  head  of  the  company  of  relatives, 
went  with  her  to  the  porch.  There  on  seeing  the 
coach,  he  was  struck  by  a  devilish  idea.  "Why,  the 
coach  belongs  to  my  brother,"  was  the  thought  that 
flashed  through  his  mind. 

"So  we'll  see  each  other,  mother  dear?"  he  said, 
helping  his  mother  in  and  casting  side  glances  at  the 
coach. 

"If  its  the  Lord's  will — and  why  shouldn't  we  see 
each  other?" 

"Ah,  mother,  dear  mother,  that  was  a  good  joke, 
really!  You  had  better  leave  the  coach — and,  with 
God's  help,  in  your  old  nest — indeed,"  urged  Yudush- 
ka in  a  wheedling  tone. 

Arina  Petrovna  made  no  answer.  She  had  already 
seated  herself  and  made  the  sig»  of  the  cross,  but 
the  orphans  seemed  to  hesitate. 


AS  BECOMES  GOOD  KINSFOLK       143 

Yudushka,  all  the  while,  kept  throwing  glance  after 
glance  at  the  coach. 

"How  about  the  coach,  mother  dear?  Will  you 
send  it  back  yourself  or  shall  I  send  for  it?"  he  blurt- 
ed out,  unable  to  retain  himself  longer. 

Arina  Petrovna  shook  with  indignation. 

"The  coach  is — mine!"  she  cried  in  a  voice  so  full 
of  pain  that  everyone  felt  embarrassed  and  ashamed. 
"It's  mine!  Mine!  My  coach!  I — I  have  testi- 
mony— witnesses.     And  you — -may  you No,  Г11 

w^ait We  shall  see  what  becomes  of  you.  Chil- 
dren, are  you  ready?" 

"For  mercy's  sake,  mother  dear !  I  have  no  griev- 
ance against  you.  Even  if  the  coach  belonged  to  this 
estate " 

"It  is  my  coach — mine !  It  does  not  belong  to  Du- 
brovino,  it  belongs  to  me !  Don't  you  dare  to  saj>it — 
do  you  hear  me?" 

"Yes,  mother  dear.  Don't  forget  us,  dear  heart. 
Simply,  you  know,  without  ceremony.  We  will  come 
to  you,  you  will  come  to  us,  as  becomes  good  kins- 
folk." 

"Are  you  seated,  children?  Coachman,  go  on!" 
cried  Arina  Petrovna,  hardly  able  to  restrain  herself. 

The  coach  quivered  and  rolled  off  quickly  down  the 
road.  Yudushka  stood  on  the  porch  waving  his  hand- 
kerchief and  calling  until  the  coach  had  entirely  dis- 
appeared from  view : 

"As  becomes  good  kinsfolk !  We  will  come  to  you, 
and  you  to  us — ^as  becomes  good  kinsfolk!" 


•BOOK  III 
FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED 


145 


CHAPTER  I 

It  had  never  occurred  to  Arina  Petrovna  that  there 
might  come  a  time  when  she  would  become  "one  mouth 
too  many."  Now  that  moment  had  stolen  upon  her 
just  when  for  the  first  time  in  her  life  her  physical 
and  moral  strength  was  undermined.  Such  moments 
always  arrive  suddenly.  Though  one  may  long  have 
been  on  the  verge  of  breaking  down,  one  may  still  hold 
out  and  stave  off  the  end,  till  suddenly  the  last  blow 
strikes  from  a  quarter  least  expected.  To  be  aware 
of  its  approach  and  dodge  it,  is  difficult.  One  has  to 
resign  oneself  without  complaint,  for  it  is  the  very 
blow  that  in  an  instant  shatters  one  who  till  recently 
has  been  hale  and  healthy. 

When  Arina  Petrovna  took  up  her  abode  in  Dubro- 
vino,  after  having  broken  with  Yudushka,  she  had  la- 
bored under  great  difficulties.  But  then,  at  least,  she 
had  known  that  Pavel  Vladimirych,  though  looking 
askance  at  her  intrusion,  was  still  a  well-to-do  man  to 
whom  another  morsel  meant  little.  Now  things  were 
very  different.  She  stood  at  the  head  of  a  household 
that  counted  every  crumb.  And  she  knew  the  value  of 
crumbs,  having  spent  all  her  life  in  the  country  in 
constant  intercourse  with  peasants  and  having  assim- 
ilated the  peasant's  notions  of  the  harm  a  "super- 
fluous mouth"  does  to  a  house  in  which  stores  are  al- 
ready scanty. 

147 


148  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

Nevertheless,  in  the  first  days  after  the  removal  to 
Pogorelka,  she  still  maintained  her  usual  attitude, 
busied  herself  with  putting  things  in  shape  in  the  new 
place,  and  exercised  her  ^ormer  clarity  of  judgment  in 
household  management.  But  the  affairs  of  the  estate 
were  troublesome  and  petty,  and  demanded  her  con- 
stant personal  supervision ;  and  though  on  first  thought 
she  did  not  see  much  sense  in  keeping  accurate  accounts 
in  a  place  where  farthings  are  put  together  to  make 
up  kopek  pieces  and  these  in  turn  to  make  ten-kopek 
pieces,  she  was  soon  forced  to  admit  that  she  had  been 
wrong  in  this.  To  be  sure,  there  really  was  no  sense 
in  keeping  careful  accounts ;  but  the  point  was,  she  no 
longer  possessed  her  former  industry  and  strength. 
Then,  too,  it  was  autumn,  the  busiest  time  of  reckoning 
up  accounts  and  taking  inventories,  and  the  incessant 
bad  weather  imposed  inevitable  limits  to  Arina  Petrov- 
na's  energy.  Ailments  of  old  age  came  upon  her  and 
prevented  her  from  leaving  the  house.  The  long 
dreary  fall  evenings  set  in  and  doomed  her  to  enforced 
idleness.  The  old  woman  was  all  upset  and  exerted 
herself  to  the  utmost,  but  succeeded  in  accomplishing 
nothing. 

Another  thing.  She  could  not  help  noticing  that 
something  queer  was  coming  over  the  orphans.  They 
suddenly  became  dull  and  dispirited  and  were  agitated 
by  some  vague  plans  for  the  future,  plans  in  which 
notions  of  work  were  interspersed  with  notions  of 
pleasures  of  the  most  innocent  kind,  of  course — rem- 
iniscences of  the  boarding-school  where  they  had  been 
brought  up,  mingled  with  stray  notions  about  men  of 
toil,  which  they  retained  from  their  fragmentary  read- 
ing, and  timid  hopes  of  clutching  at  some  thread 
through   their    boarding-school    connections,    and    so 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         149 

entering  the  bright  kingdom  of  human  Hfe.  One  tor- 
menting hope  stood  out  definitely  from  the  other 
vague  longings,  to  leave  hateful  Pogorelka  at  what- 
ever costs. 

And  at  length  one  fine  day  Anninka  and  Lubinka 
actually  announced  to  grandma  that  they  simply 
could  not  stay  at  Pogorelka  a  moment  longer;  they 
led  a  beastly  life  there,  met  nobody  but  the  priest, 
and  he,  when  he  met  them,  felt  it  incumbent  upon  him 
to  tell  of  the  virgins  who  had  extinguished  their  lamps. 
It  wasn't  right,  it  wasn't  fair. 

The  girls  spoke  sharply,  afraid  of  their  grandmother 
and  simulating  courage  in  order  to  overcome  the  anger 
and  resistance  they  expected.  But  to  their  surprise 
Arina  Petrovna  listened  without  anger,  without  even 
a  disposition  toward  the  useless  sermonizing  that  im- 
potent old  age  is  so  given  to. 

Alas,  she  was  no  longer  that  dominating  woman  who 
used  to  say  so  confidently :  *'I  am  going  to  Khotkov 
and  will  take  the  little  orphans  with  me."  The  change 
was  due,  not  to  senile  impotence  alone,  but  also  to  an 
acquired  sense  of  something  better  and  truer.  The 
last  buffets  of  fortune  had  not  only  tamed  Arina  Pet- 
rovna; they  had  also  lighted  up  some  corners  of  her 
mental  horizon  into  which  her  thoughts  evidently  had 
never  before  entered.  Now,  she  knew,  there  were 
certain  forces  in  the  human  being  that  can  remain  dor- 
mant a  long  while,  but  once  awakened,  they  carry  one 
irresistibly  on  to  the  glimmering  ray  of  life,  that  cheer- 
ing ray  for  whose  appearance  one's  eyes  have  been 
yearning  so  long  amidst  the  hopeless  darkness  of  the 
present.  Once  realizing  the  legitimacy  of  such  a 
striving,  she  was  powerless  to  oppose  it.  It  is  true, 
she  tried  to  dissuade  her  granddaughters  from  their 


I50  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

purpose,  but  feebly,  without  conviction.  She  was 
uneasy  about  the  future  in  store  for  them ;  all  the  more 
so  since  she  herself  had  no  connections  in  so-called 
"society."  Yet  she  felt  that  the  parting  with  the  girls 
was  a  proper  and  inevitable  thing.  What  would  be- 
come of  them?  frequently  pressed  on  her  mind ;  but  she 
was  now  fully  aware  that  neither  this  question  nor 
others  more  terrible  would  restrain  one  who  was  strug- 
gling for  Telease  from  captivity. 

The  girls  insisted  on  one  thing,  on  shaking  the  dust 
of  Pogorelka  from  their  feet.  And  finally,  after  some 
hesitating  and  postponing  to  please  grandmother,  they 
left. 

The  Pogorelka  manor-house  was  now  steeped  in  a 
forlorn  quiet.  Self-centered  as  Arina  Petrovna  was 
by  nature,  yet  the  proximity  of  human  breath  had  its 
calming  effect  even  upon  her.  For  the  first  time,  per- 
haps, she  felt  that  something  had  torn  itself  away  from 
her  being,  and  the  freedom  with  which  she  herself  was 
now  confronted  was  so  boundless  that  all  she  saw  was 
empty  space.  To  hide  the  void  from  her  eyes,  she 
ordered  the  state-rooms  and  the  attic  where  the  or- 
phans had  lived  to  be  nailed  up. 

"Incidentally,  there  will  be  less  firewood  burned," 
she  said  to  herself. 

She  retained  only  two  rooms,  in  one  of  which  a  large 
ikon  case  with  images  was  stowed  away.  The  other 
was  a  combined  bedroom,  study  and  dining-room. 
For  the  sake  of  economy  she  dismissed  her  retinue  of 
servants,  retaining  only  her  housekeeper  Afimyushka, 
an  old,  broken-down  woman,  and  Markovna,  one- 
eyed,  the  soldier's  wife,  who  did  the  cooking  and 
washing. 

All  these  precautions,  however,  were  of  little  help. 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         151 

The  sensation  of  emptiness  was  not  slow  to  penetrate 
into  the  two  rooms  that  were  meant  to  be  guarded 
from  it.  Helpless  solitude  and  dreary  idleness  wereV 
the  two  enemies  Arina  Petrovna  now  confronted. 
And  she  was  to  be  bound  to  these  two  enemies  the  rest 
of  her  days.  Physical  and  mental  disintegration  were 
not  slow  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  loneliness  and  idle- 
ness, and  the  less  the  resistance,  the  crueller,  the  more 
destructive  its  work. 

Days  dragged  on  in  the  oppressive  monotony  pe- 
culiar to  rural  life  when  there  are  no  comforts  or  there 
is  no  executive  work  to  be  done,  and  there  is  no  mate- 
rial for  mental  occupation.  In  addition  to  the  ex- 
ternal causes  at  work  to  take  the  management  of 
household  affairs  away  from  her,  was  an  inner  aver- 
sion that  Arina  Petrovna  now  felt  to  the  petty  cares 
and  bustle  coming  at  the  sunset  of  her  life.  Perhaps 
she  would  have  overcome  her  repugnance  had  she  had 
an  aim  in  view  to  justify  her  efforts,  but  that  very  aim 
was  wanting.  Everybody  was  sick  and  weary  of  her, 
and  she  was  sick  and  weary  of  everybody  and  every- 
"■hing.  Her  feverish  activity  of  old  suddenly  yielded 
to  idleness,  and  idleness  little  by  little  corrupted  her 
will  and  induced  propensities  of  which  Arina  Petrovna 
could  never  have  dreamed  only  a  few  months  ago. 

The  strong,  reserved  woman,  whom  no  one  would 
have  thought  of  calling  old,  turned  into  a  wreck  of 
her  former  self.  There  was  neither  past  nor  future 
for  her,  but  only  the  immediate  moment  to  live 
through.  The  greater  part  of  the  day  she  dozed,  sit- 
ting in  an  easy-chair  by  the  table,  on  which  ill-smelling 
cards  were  arranged.  She  would  doze  for  hours  on 
end.  Then  her  body  would  shudder  convulsively,  she 
would  wake  up,  look  out  of  the  window,  and  for  a 


152  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

long  time  stare  into  the  distance,  without  a  single  con- 
scious thought. 

Pogorelka  was  a  dreary  manor-house.  It  stood 
all  alone,  without  orchard  or  shade,  or  the  least 
indication  of  comfort.  There  was  not  even  a  flower 
garden  in  front  of  the  house.  It  was  a  one-story 
structure,  squat,  weather-beaten,  all  black  with  age. 
Back  of  it  were  the  many  out-buildings,  also  half 
worn-out,  and  all  around  was  one  vast  stretch  of  fields 
— fields  without  end.  Not  even  the  glimpse  of  forest 
anywhere  on  the  horizon.  But  from  her  very  child- 
hood Arina  Petrovna  had  hardly  ever  left  the  country, 
and  this  monotonous  landscape  did  not  seem  dreary 
to  her.  It  even  appealed  to  her  heart  and  awakened 
remnants  of  emotion  still  glowing  within  her.  The 
best  part  of  her  being  lived  in  these  naked  fields,  and 
her  gaze  sought  them  instinctively. 

She  stared  at  the  expanse  of  fields;  she  stared  at 
the  drenched  hamlets  making  black  specks  on  the 
landscape ;  she  stared  at  the  white  churches  of  the  rural 
parishes ;  she  stared  at  the  motley  spots  that  the  cloud 
shadows  formed  on  the  plains ;  she  stared  at  the  peas- 
ant unknown  to  her  who  walked  along  the  ploughed 
furrows,  and  she  thought  him  slow  and  stiff.  While 
staring,  she  had  no  conscious  thoughts,  or,  rather,  her 
thoughts  were  so  fragmentary  and  disconnected  that 
they  could  not  stay  with  any  one  thing  for  even  a 
short  time.  She  just  gazed,  gazed  till  senile  slumber 
again  hummed  dully  in  her  ears,  and  the  fields,  the 
churches,  the  hamlets  and  the  peasant  in  the  distance 
became  wrapped  in  mist. 

At  times,  apparently,  she  recollected  something; 
but  the  memories  of  the  past  came  incoherently,  in 
fragments.     Her  attention  could  not  concentrate  on 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         153 

one  point.  It  jumped  from  one  remote  memory  to 
another.  Yet  sometimes  she  would  be  struck  by  some- 
thing singular,  not  joy — her  past  was  very  scant  in 
joys — but  some  grievance,  some  abuse,  bitter  and  un- 
bearable. Then  sudden  anger  would  flare  up,  anguish 
would  creep  into  her  heart,  and  tears  come  to  her  eyes. 
She  would  weep  grievously,  painfully,  the  weeping  of 
piteous  old  age,  when  tears  flow  as  if  under  the  load 
of  a  nightmare.  But  even  while  her  tears  were  flow- 
ing, her  mind  unconsciously  continued  to  work  in  its 
usual  way,  and  her  thoughts  drifted  imperceptibly 
away  from  the  cause  of  her  mood,  so  that  in  a  few 
minutes  the  old  woman  was  wondering  what  had  been 
the  matter  with  her. 

Altogether,  she  lived  as  if  not  participating  in  life 
personally,  but  solely  because  in  those  ruins  there  were 
still  left  a  few  odds  and  ends  which  had  to  be  col- 
lected, recorded,  and  accounted  for.  While  these 
odds  and  ends  were  present,  life  went  its  w^ay  com- 
pelling the  ruin  to  perform  all  the  external  functions 
necessary  to  keep  that  half-asleep  existence  from 
crumbling  to  dust. 

But  if  the  days  passed  in  unconscious  slumber,  the 
nights  were  sheer  torment.  At  night  Arina  Petrovna 
was  afraid:  she  was  afraid  of  thieves,  of  ghosts,  of 
devils,  of  all  that  was  the  product  of  her  education  and 
life.  And  the  defenses  of  the  place  were  very  poor, 
for  beside  the  two  tottering  women  domestics  Pogo- 
relka  had  a  night-watch  in  the  person  of  the  lame  little 
peasant  Fedoseyushka,  who  for  two  rubles  a  month 
came  from  the  village  to  guard  the  manor-house,  and 
usually  slept  in  the  vestibule,  coming  out  at  the  ap- 
pointed hours  to  strike  the  steel  plate.  In  the  cattle- 
yard,  it  is  true,  there  lived  a  few  farm  hands,  men 


154  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

and  women,  but  the  cattle  house  was  about  fifty  yards 
away  and  it  was  not  easy  to  summon  any  one  from 
there. 

There  is  something  exceedingly  dreary  and  oppres- 
sive in  a  sleepless  night  in  the  country.  At  nine,  or 
at  latest  ten  o'clock,  life  ceases.  A  weird  stillness  sets 
in  that  is  full  of  terrors.  There  is  nothing  to  do,  and 
it  is  a  waste  to  burn  candles.  Willy-nilly  one  must 
go  to  bed.  As  soon  as  the  samovar  was  removed  from 
the  table  Afimyushka,  from  an  old  habit  acquired  dur- 
ing serfdom,  spread  a  felt  blanket  in  front  of  the 
door  leading  to  the  nilstress's  bedroom,  scratched  her 
head,  yawned,  flopped  down  on  the  floor,  and  fell  dead 
asleep.  Markovna  always  fumbled  in  the  maids'  room 
a  trifle  longer,  muttering  something  to  herself  as  if 
scolding  somebody.  But  at  last  she,  too,  got  quiet, 
and  a  moment  later  you  could  hear  her  snoring  and 
raving  intermittently.  The  watchman  banged  on  the 
plate  several  times  to  announce  his  presence,  then  kept 
quiet  for  a  long  time.  Arina  Petrovna,  sitting  in  front 
of  a  snuffy  tallow  candle,  tried  to  stave  ofT  sleep  by 
playing  "patience,"  but  scarcely  did  she  have  the  cards 
arranged  when  she  fell  into  a  doze. 

"It  is  as  easy  as  not  for  a  fire  to  start  while  one 
is  asleep,"  she  would  say  to  herself,  and  decide  to  go 
to  bed.  But  no  sooner  did  she  sink  into  the  down  pil- 
lows than  another  trouble  set  in.  Her  sleepiness,  so 
inviting  and  insistent  all  evening  long,  now  left  her 
completely.  The  room  was  a  close  one  at  the  best, 
and  now,  from  the  open  flue  the  heat  came  thick,  and 
the  down  pillows  were  insufferable.  Arina  Petrovna 
tossed  restlessly.  She  wanted  to  call  someone,  but 
knew  no  one  would  come  in  answer  to  her  summons. 
A  mysterious  quiet  reigned  all  around,  a  quiet  in  which 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         155 

the  delicate  ear  could  distinguish  a  multitude  of  sounds. 
Now  something  crackled  somewhere,  now  a  whining 
was  audible,  now  it  seemed  as  if  somebody  луеге  walk- 
ing through  the  corridor,  now  a  puff  of  wind  swept 
through  the  room  and  even  touched  her  face.  The 
ikon  lamp  burned  in  front  of  an  image,  and  the  light 
gave  the  objects  in  the  room  a  kind  of  elusiveness,  as 
if  they  were  not  actual  things,  but  only  the  contours 
of  things.  Another  bit  of  light  strayed  from  the  open 
door  of  the  adjacent  room,  w^here  four  or  five  ikon 
lamps  were  burning  before  the  im.age  case.  A  mouse 
squeaked  behind  the  wall  paper.  ''^Sh-sh-sh,  you  nasty 
thing,"  said  Arina  Petrovna,  and  all  was  silent  again. 
And  shadows  again,  whisperings  again  coming  from 
no  one  knew  where.  The  greater  part  of  the  night 
passed  in  that  half -awake  senile  slumber.  Real  sleep 
did  not  set  in  and  do  its  work  until  nearly  morning. 
By  six  o'clock  Arina  Petrovna  was  already  on  her 
feet,  tired  out  after  a  sleepless  night. 

Other  things  to  add  to  the  misery  of  this  miserable 
existence  of  Arina  Petrovna's  Avere  the  poor  food  she 
ate  and  the  discomfort  of  her  home.  She  ate  little 
and  used  poor  food,  wishing,  probably,  to  make  up  for 
the  loss  caused  by  insufficient  supervision.  And  the 
Pogorelka  manor-house  was  dilapidated  and  damp. 
The  room  into  which  Arina  Petrovna  locked  herself 
was  never  ventilated  and  remained  Avithout  cleaning 
for  weeks  on  end.  In  this  complete  helplessness  and 
the  absence  of  all  comfort  and  care,  decrepitude  began 
slowly  to  set  in.  But  her  desire  to  live  grew  stronger, 
or,  rather,  her  desire  for  "a  dainty  bit"  asserted  itself. 
With  this  came  coupled  a  total  absence  of  the  thought 
of  death.  Previously,  she  had  been  afraid  of  death : 
now  she  seemed  to  have  quite  forgotten  about  it.     And 


15б  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

with  ideals  of  life  differing  but  little  from  a  peasants, 
her  conception  of  a  ^'comfortable  life"  was  of  rather  a 
base  kind.  Everything  she  had  formerly  denied  her- 
self, dainties,  rest,  association  with  wide-awake  peo- 
ple, now  forced  itself  upon  her  in  an  insistent  craving. 
All  the  propensities  of  a  regular  sponger  and  hanger- 
on,  idle  talk,  subservience  for  the  sake  of  a  prospective 
gift,  gluttony,  grew  in  her  with  astounding  rapidity. 
Like  the  servants,  she  fed  on  cabbage-soup  and  cured 
bacon  of  doubtful  quality,  and  at  the  same  time 
dreamed  of  the  stores  of  provisions  at  Golovliovo,  of 
the  German  carps  that  swarmed  in  the  Dubrovino 
ponds,  of  the  mushrooms  that  filled  the  Golovliovo 
woods,  of  the  fowl  that  fattened  in  the  Golovliovo 
poultry-yard. 

"Some  soup  with  giblets,  or  some  garden-cress  in 
cream  would  not  be  a  bad  thing,"  would  cross  her 
mind  so  vividly  that  her  mouth  watered.  At  night 
when  she  tossed  about  rigid  with  fright  at  the  least 
rustling,  she  would  think :  ''Yes,  at  Golovliovo  the 
locks  are  secure  and  the  watchmen  reliable.  They 
keep  banging  on  the  steel  plates  all  the  time,  and  you 
can  sleep  in  perfect  safety."  ■  During  the  day,  from 
sheer  lack  of  human  companionship,  she  was  compelled 
to  be  silent  for  hours,  and  during  these  spells  of  com- 
pulsory taciturnity,  she  could  not  help  thinking:  "At 
Golovliovo  there  are  lots  of  people.  There  you  can 
talk  your  troubles  away."  In  fact,  Golovliovo  kept 
constantly  recurring  to  her  mind,  and  the  reminiscences 
of  her  former  estate  became  a  radiant  spot  in  which 
"comfortable  living"  concentrated  itself. 

The  more  frequently  the  vision  of  Golovliovo  came 
back  to  her  mind,  the  stronger  became  her  will  to  live 
again,  and  the  farther  the  deadly  affronts  she  had  re- 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         157 

cently  sustained  sank  into  oblivion.  The  Russian 
woman,  by  the  very  nature  of  her  life  and  bringing- 
up,  too  quickly  acquiesces  in  the  lot  of  a  hanger-on. 
Even  Arina  Petrovna  did  not  escape  that  fate,  though 
her  past,  it  would  seem,  should  have  tended  to  warn 
and  guard  her  against  such  a  yoke.  Had  she  not 
made  a  mistake  "at  that  time,"  had  she  not  portioned 
out  her  estate  to  her  sons,  had  she  not  trusted  Yudush- 
ka,  she  would  to  this  very  day  have  been  a  harsh, 
exacting  old  woman,  with  everybody  under  her  thumb. 
But  since  the  mistake  was  fatal,  the  transition  from  a  i 
testy,  arbitrary  mistress  to  an  obedient,  obsequious  I 
parasite  was  only  a  matter  of  time.  As  long  as  she  V 
still  retained  remnants  of  former  vigor,  the  change 
was  not  evident,  but  as  soon  as  she  realized  that  she 
was  irrevocably  doomed  to  helplessness  and  solitude,  all 
the  pusillanimous  propensities  began  to  make  their 
way  into  her  soul,  and  her  will,  already  weakened,  be- 
came completely  shattered.  Yudushka,  who  used  to 
be  received  most  coldly  when  he  visited  Pogorelka, 
suddenly  ceased  to  be  hateful  to  her.  The  old  inju- 
ries were  somehow  forgotten,  and  Arina  Petrovna 
was  the  first  to  court  intimacy. 

It  began  with  begging  Messengers  from  Pogo- 
relka would  come  to  Yudushka,  at  first  rarely,  but 
then  with  increasing  frequency.  Now  there  had  been 
a  poor  crop  of  garden-cress  at  Pogorelka,  now  the  rains 
had  ruined  the  gherkins,  now  the  turkey-poults  had 
died — there's  freedom  for  you !  And  then  it  came 
to :  "Would  you  mind,  my  dear  friend,  ordering  some 
German  carps  caught  in  Dubrovino?  My  late  son 
Pavel  never  refused  them  to  me."  Yudushka  frowned, 
but  thought  it  best  not  to  show  open  displeasure.  The 
carps  were  an  item,  to  be  sure,  but  he  was  filled  with 


158  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN  i 

terror  at  the  thought  that  his  mother  might  put  her 
curse  upon  him.  He  well  remembered  her  once  say- 
ing: "I  will  come  to  Golovliovo,  order  the  church  j 
opened,  call  in  the  priest  and  shout :  'I  curse  you !'  " 
It  was  the  recollection  of  this  that  held  him  back  from 
many  dastardly  acts  that  quite  accorded  with  his  na- 
ture. But  in  fulfilling  the  wish  of  his  "mother  dear" 
he  did  not  omit  to  hint  casually  to  the  people  around 
him  that  God  had  ordained  that  every  man  bear  his 
cross,  and  that  He  did  so  not  without  divine  purpose, 
for  he  who  bears  not  his  cross  wanders  from  the 
righteous  path  and  becomes  corrupted.  To  his  mother 
he  wrote:  "I  am  sending  you  some  gherkins,  mother 
dear,  as  many  as  my  resources  allow.  As  to  the  tur- 
keys, I  am  sorry  to  inform  you  that  besides  those  left 
for  breeding,  there  remain  only  turkey-cocks,  which 
in  view  of  their  size  and  the  limited  needs  of  your 
table  are  quite  useless  to  you.  And  will  it  not  be  your 
pleasure  to  let  me  welcome  you  to  Golovliovo  and  share 
my  paltry  viands  with  you?  Then  we  can  have  one 
of  those  idlers  (idlers,  indeed,  for  my  cook  Matvey 
caponizes  them  most  skilfully)  roasted,  and  you  and 
I,  my  dearest  friend,  shall  feast  on  him  to  our  heart's 
content." 

From  that  day  Arina  Petrovna  became  a  frequent 
guest  at  Golovliovo.  Assisted  by  Yudushka  she 
tasted  of  turkeys  and  ducks;  she  slept  her  fill  both  by 
night  and  by  day,  and  after  dinner  she  eased  her  heart 
with  copious  small  talk,  in  which  Yudushka  was  pro- 
ficient by  nature,  she  proficient  because  of  old  age. 
Her  visits  were  not  discontinued  even  when  it  reached 
her  ears  that  Yudushka,  weary  of  solitude,  had  taken 
in  a  damsel  named  Yevpraksia,  from  among  the  clergy, 
as  his  housekeeper.     On  the  contrary,  she  made  off 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         159 

right  for  Golovliovo  and  before  alighting  from  the 
carriage  called  to  Yudushka  with  childish  impatience : 
"Well,  well,  you  old  sinner,  let's  see  your  queen,  let's 
see  your  queen."  That  entire  day  she  spent  most 
pleasurably,  because  Yevpraksia  herself  waited  upon 
her  at  table  and  made  her  bed  after  dinner,  and  be- 
cause in  the  evening  she  played  fool  with  Yudushka 
and  his  queen. 

Yudushka  himself  was  pleased  with  this  denoue- 
ment, and  in  token  of  filial  gratitude  ordered  a  pound 
of  caviar,  among  other  things,  to  be  put  into  Arina 
Petrovna's  carriage  as  she  was  about  to  depart.  That 
was  the  highest  token  of  esteem,  for  caviar  is  not  a 
home  product;  one  has  to  buy  it.  The  courtesy  so 
touched  the  old  woman  that  she  could  refrain  no  long- 
er and  said :  "Well,  I  do  thank  you  for  this.  And 
God,  too,  will  love  you,  because  you  cherish  and  sus- 
tain your  mother  in  her  old  age.  Now,  when  I  get 
back  to  Pogorelka,  I  shall  not  be  bored  any  more.  I 
always  did  like  caviar.  Well,  thanks  to  you,  I'll  have  a 
dainty  morsel  now." 


CHAPTER  II 

Five  years  had  passed  since  Arina  Petrovna  took 
up  her  abode  at  Pogorelka.  Yudushka  struck  root  in 
Golovliovo  and  would  not  budge.  He  became  con- 
siderably older,  faded  and  tarnished  greatly,  but  was 
more  of  a  knave,  liar  and  babbler  than  ever,  for  now 
his  "mother  dear"  was  nearly  always  with  him,  and 
for  the  sake  of  dainties,  she  became  a  ready  and  in- 
dispensable listener  to  his  empty  talk. 

One  must  not  think  of  Yudushka  as  a  hypocrite 
in  the  sense  of  Tartuffe,  for  instance,  or  some  modern 
French  bourgeois,  mellifluous  and  fond  of  expatiating 
on  "the  foundations  of  society."  No,  he  was  a  hypo- 
crite of  the  purely  Russian  breed,  simply  a  man  devoid 
of  moral  standards  and  ignorant  of  any  except  the 
most  elementary  truths.  His  ignorance  was  profound. 
He  was  mendacious,  had  a  passion  for  litigation  and 
empty  talk,  and  was  afraid  of  the  devil,  too — all  nega- 
tive traits  that  are  not  the  material  for  the  making 
of  a  genuine  hypocrite. 

In  France  hypocrisy  is  a  result  of  education;  it 
constitutes,  so  to  say,  a  part  of  "good  manners,"  and 
always  has  a  distinct  political  or  social  coloring. 
There  are  hypocrites  of  religion,  hypocrites  of  "the 
foundations  of  society,"  of  property,  of  family,  of 
politics.  And  lately  there  have  come  up  even  hypo- 
crites of  "law  and  order."     Though  this  sort  of  hypoc- 

i6o 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         i6i 

risy  cannot  be  termed  conviction,  still  it  is  a  banner 
around  which  those  people  rally  who  find  it  profitable 
to  play  the  hypocrite  in  that  way  and  no  other.  They 
sham  consciously,  that  is  they  know  they  are  hypo- 
crites, and  they  also  know  that  others  know.  Accord- 
ing to  the  notions  of  a  French  bourgeois,  the  universe 
is  nothing  but  a  large  stage  on  which  is  played  an 
endless  drama  with  one  hypocrite  taking  his  cue  from^ 
the  other.  Hypocrisy  is  an  invitation  to  decency, 
decorum,  outward  elegance  and  politeness.  And  what 
is  most  important,  hypocrisy  is  a  restraint,  not  for 
those,  of  course,  who  play  the  hypocrite,  hovering  in 
the  rarified  atmosphere  of  the  social  heights,  but  for 
those  who  swarm  at  the  bottom  of  the  social  caldron. 
Hypocrisy  keeps  society  from  the  debauchery  of  pas- 
sion and  makes  passion  the  privilege  of  a  very  limitted 
minority.  When  licentiousness  keeps  within  the  limits 
of  a  small,  well-organized  corporation,  it  is  not  only 
harmless,  but  even  supports  and  nourishes  the  tradi- 
tions of  elegance.  The  exquisite  would  perish  if 
there  were  not  a  certain  number  of  cabinets  particuliers, 
in  which  licentiousness  is  cultivated  in  the  moments 
that  are  free  from  the  worship  of  official  hypocrisy. 
But  licentiousness  becomes  really  dangerous  as  soon 
as  it  is  accessible  to  all  and  is  combined  with  the  gen- 
eral extension  of  the  right  to  make  demands  and  insist 
upon  the  legitimacy  and  naturalness  of  such  demands. 
New  social  stratifications  form,  which  endeavor  to 
crowd  out  the  old  ones,  or,  at  least,  limit  them  consid- 
erably. The  demand  for  cabinets  particiiliers  grows 
to  such  an  extent  that  the  question  arises :  Would  it 
not  be  simpler  in  the  future  to  get  along  without  them  ? 
It  is  against  these  unwelcome  questions  and  formula- 
tions of  demands  that  the  ruling  classes  of  French 


1б2  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

society  guard  the  systematic  hypocrisy  that  begins  by 
being  an  accident  of  manners  and  ends  by  becoming  a 
compulsory  law. 

The  modern  French  theatre  is  based  on  this  rev- 
erence for  hypocrisy.  The  first  four  acts  of  a  popular 
French  play  are  realistic,  depicting  the  decay  and  dis- 
integration of  all  standards  of  marital  fidelity.  But 
the  fifth  act  always  ends  up  with  some  sentimental 
ringing  phrase  eulogizing  the  sweet  atmosphere  of  the 
fireside  and  the  supreme  triumph  of  virtue  over  vice. 
Which  is  the  truth?  Which  is  the  sham?  Both  and 
neither.  In  the  first  four  acts  the  audience  sees  itself 
mirrored  in  the  realistic  portrayal  on  the  stage,  but  the 
fifth  act  is  an  equally  faithful  portrayal  of  the 
audience's  conception  of  ideal  virtue  and  pure  matri- 
monial life,  jr  So,  if  French  hypocrisy  is  a  superstruc- 
ture upon  the  body  of  public  immorality,  it  is  so  com- 
pletely a  part  of  the  entire  fabric  of  morality  that  it 
keeps  the  edifice  from  toppling  over. 
/  We  Russians  have  no  system  of  social  bringing  up. 
/We  are  not  mustered  or  drilled  to  become  champions 
Jof  "social  principles"  or  other  principles,  but  simply 
Ueft  to  grow  wild,  like  nettles  by  the  fence.  That  is 
why  there  are  few  hypocrites  among  us,  but  many 
liars,  empty-headed  bigots,  and  babblers.  We  have 
no  need  of  playing  the  hypocrite  for  the  sake  of  social 
Vprinciples,  for  we  know  of  no  such  thing  as  social  prin- 
\]ciples.  We  exist  in  perfect  liberty,  that  is,  we  vege- 
tate, lie,  chatter  quite  naturally,  \vithout  regard  for 
principle.  Whether  we  ought  to  rejoice  over  it  or 
regret  it,  I  cannot  say.  I  think,  though,  that  if  hy- 
pocrisy breeds  resentment  and  fear,  useless  lying  causes 
boredom  and  repugnance.  The  best  thing,  therefore, 
is  to  ignore  the  question  of  the  advantages  of  con- 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         163 

scious  over  unconscious  hypocrisy,  and  vice  versa,  and 
have  nothing  to  do  with  either  hypocrites  or  Hars. 

Yudushka  was  more  of  a  chatterbox,  Har  and  rascal 
than  hypocrite.  On  shutting  himself  up  on  his  coun- 
try estate,  he  at  once  felt  at  perfect  liberty.  In  no 
other  environment  could  his  propensities  find  so  vast 
a  field  for  operation.  At  Golovliovo  he  encountered 
neither  direct  resistance  nor  even  indirect  restraints 
that  would  make  him  think :  "I  should  like  to  do  some- 
thing mean,  but  what  will  people  say?"  There  was 
none  to  disturb  him  with  disapproval,  no  one  to  intrude 
into  his  affairs.  Consequently  there  was  no  reason 
for  controlling  himself.  Extreme  slovenliness  became 
the  dominating  feature  of  his  attitude  toward  himself. 
He  had  long  had  a  craving  for  this  perfect  freedom 
from  any  moral  restraint,  and  the  fact  that  he  had  not 
gone  to  live  in  the  country  earlier  was  entirely  due 
to  his  fear  of  idleness.  Having  spent  over  thirty  years 
in  the  dull  atmosphere  of  the  bureaucratic  department, 
he  had  acquired  all  the  habits  and  appetites  of  an  in- 
veterate official,  who  does  not  allow  a  single  moment 
of  his  life  to  pass  without  being  busily  engaged  in 
doing  nothing.  But  on  studying  the  matter  more 
closely,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  realm  of- 
busy  idleness  can  easily  be  transposed  to  any  sphere.  1 

In  fact,  scarcely  settled  at  Golovliovo  but  he  at 
once  created  a  world  of  trifles  in  which  to  rummage 
without  the  slightest  risk  of  them  ever  being  exhausted. 
In  the  morning  he  would  seat  himself  at  his  desk  and 
attend  to  business  matters.  First  he  would  carefully 
check  the  accounts  of  the  housekeeper,  the  cattle-yard 
woman,  and  the  steward.  He  had  established  a  very 
complicated  accounting  system,  both  for  money  and 
inventory.     Every  kopek,  every  bit  of  produce,  was 


1б4  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

entered  in  twenty  books,  and  on  checking  up  he  would 
find  the  total  either  half  a  kopek  behind,  or  a  whole 
kopek  ahead.  Lastly  he  would  take  up  his  pen  and 
write  complaints  to  the  justice  of  the  peace  and  the 
judge  of  appeals.  This  took  up  all  his  time  and  had 
the  appearance  of  assiduous  hard  work.  Yudushka 
often  complained  that  he  had  no  time  to  do  everything 
that  had  to  be  done,  though  he  pored  over  the  ledgers 
all  day  long  and  did  not  even  stop  to  take  off  his 
dressing-gown.  Heaps  of  well  filed  but  unexamined 
reports  were  always  lying  about  on  his  desk,  and 
among  them  was  the  annual  report  of  the  cattle-house 
woman,  Fekla,  whose  activity  had  long  seemed  sus- 
picious, though  he  had  had  no  time  to  check  up  her 
accounts. 

All  connections  with  the  outside  world  were  com- 
pletely severed.  He  received  no  books,  no  newspa- 
pers, not  even  letters.  One  of  his  sons,  Volodya, 
committed  suicide.  With  the  other,  Petenka,  he  cor- 
desponded  briefly  and  only  on  sending  him  a  remit- 
tance. He  was  caught  in  an  atmosphere  thick  with 
ignorance,  superstition  and  industrious  .idkness,  and 
felt  no  desire  to  rescue  himself  from  it.  Even  the 
fact  that  Napoleon  П1.  was  no  longer  emperor  came  to 
him  through  the  local  chief  of  police  a  year  after  the 
emperor's  death.  On  hearing  of  it  he  expressed  no 
particular  interest,  but  only  crossed  himself  and  mur- 
mured :  ''May  he  enter  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,"  and 
then  said  aloud  :  ''And  how  proud  he  was !  My,  my ! 
This  was  no  good,  and  that  did  not  suit  him.  Kings 
went  to  do  him  homage,  princes  kept  watch  in  his  ante- 
chamber. So  the  Lord,  you  see,  in  one  moment  cast 
down  all  his  proud  dreams." 

The  truth  of  the  matter  was  that  for  all  his  reck- 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         165 

oning  and  checking  up  he  was  far  from  knowing  what 
was  going  on  on  his  own  estate.  In  this  respect  he 
was  a  typical  official.  Imagine  a  chief  clerk  to  whom 
his  superior  says :  ''My  friend,  it  is  necessary  to  my 
plans  for  me  to  know  exactly  how  large  a  crop  of  po- 
tatoes Russia  can  produce  annually.  Will  you  kindly 
compute  this  for  me?"  You  think  a  question  like 
that  would  baffle  the  chief  clerk  ?  You  think  he  would 
at  least  ponder  over  the  methods  to  be  employed  in  the 
execution  of  such  a  task?  Not  at  all.  All  he  would 
do  is  this.  He  would  draw  a  map  of  Russia,  rule  it 
out  into  perfect  squares,  and  find  out  how  many  acres 
each  square  represents.  Then  he  would  go  to  the 
greengrocer's,  would  find  out  the  quantity  of  potatoes 
each  acre  requires  for  seed  and  what  the  average  ratio 
is  of  yield  to  seed,  and,  finally,  with  the  help  of  God 
and  the  four  fundamental  operations  of  arithmetic, 
he  would  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  Russia  under 
favorable  circumstances  could  yield  so  and  so  many 
potatoes  and  under  unfavorable  circumstances,  so  and 
so  many.  And  his  work  would  not  only  please  the 
chief,  but  would  also  be  placed  in  Volume  СП  of  some 
"Proceedings." 

Yudushka  even  chose  a  housekeeper  who  exactly 
fitted  the  environment  he  had  created.  The  maiden 
Yevpraksia  was  the  daughter  of  the  sexton  at  the 
church  of  St.  Nicholas-in-Drops.  She  was  an  all- 
round  treasure.  Not  alert  in  thinking,  not  ingenious, 
not  even  handy,  but  diligent,  submissive,  in  no  sense 
exigent.  When  Yudushka  ''drew  her  nearer"  to  his 
person,  her  one  request  was  to  be  permitted  to  take 
some  cold  cider  without  asking  leave.  Such  disin- 
terestedness touched  even  Yudushka.  He  immediately 
put  at  her  disposal  two  tubs  of  pickled  apples  beside 


i66  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

the  cider,  and  freed  her  from  accountabiHty  for  any 
of  these  items.  Her  exterior  had  nothing  attractive 
in  it  to  a  connoisseur,  but  she  was  quite  satisfactory 
to  a  man  who  was  not  fastidious  and  knew  what  he 
wanted.  She  had  a  broad  white  face,  a  low  forehead 
bordered  with  thin  yellowish  hair,  large  lack-lustre 
eyes,  a  perfectly  straight  nose,  a  flat  mouth  on  which 
there  played  a  mysterious  elusive  smile,  such  as  one 
sees  in  the  portraits  painted  by  homebred  artists.  In 
short  there  was  nothing  remarkable  about  her,  except, 
perhaps,  her  back  between  her  shoulder-blades,  which 
was  so  broad  and  powerful  that  even  the  most  indif- 
ferent man  felt  like  giving  her  a  good,  hearty  slap 
there.  She  knew  it,  but  did  not  mind  it,  so  that  when 
Yudushka  for  the  first  time  patted  the  fat  nape  of 
her  neck,  she  only  twitched  her  shoulders. 

Amidst  these  drab  surroundings  days  wore  on,  one 
exactly  like  the  other,  without  the  slightest  change, 
without  the  least  hope  of  a  brightening  ray.  The  ar- 
rival of  Arina  Petrovna  was  the  one  thing  that  brought 
a  bit  of  animation.  At  first,  when  Porfiry  Vladi- 
mirych  had  seen  his  mother's  carriage  approaching  he 
had  frowned,  but  in  time  he  grew  accustomed  to  her 
visits  and  even  got  to  like  them.  They  catered  to  his 
loquacity,  for  even  he  found  it  impossible  to  chatter 
to  himself  when  all  alone.  To  babble  about  various 
records  and  reports  with  ''mother  dear"  was  very 
pleasant,  and,  once  together,  they  talked  from  morn- 
ing till  night  without  having  enough.  They  discussed 
everything — the  harvests  of  long  ago  and  of  the  pres- 
ent; the  way  the  landed  gentry  had  lived  in  ''those 
days;'^  the  salt  that  had  been  so  strong  in  former 
years ;  and  the  gherkins  that  were  not  what  they  had 
been  in  days  gone  by. 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         167 

These  chats  had  the  advantage  of  flowing  on  Hke 
water  and  being  forgotten  without  effort,  so  that  they 
could  be  renewed  w^ith  interest  ad  infinitum,  and  en- 
joyed each  time  as  if  just  put  into  circulation.  Yev- 
praksia  was  present  at  these  talks.  Arina  Petrovna 
came  to  love  her  so  well  that  she  would  not  have  her 
away  for  a  moment.  At  times,  w^hen  tired  of  talk- 
ing, the  three  of  them  would  sit  down  to  play  fool, 
and  they  would  keep  on  playing  till  long  after  mid- 
night. They  tried  to  teach  Yevpraksia  how  to  play 
whist  with  the  dummy,  but  she  could  not  understand 
the  game.  On  such  evenings  the  enormous  Golovliovo 
mansion  became  animated.  Lights  shone  in  all  the 
windows,  shadows  appeared  here  and  there,  so  that  a 
chance  passer-by  might  think  Heaven  knows  what 
celebration  was  going  on.  Samovars,  coffee  pots, 
refreshments  took  their  turn  on  the  table,  which  was 
never  empty.  Arina  Petrovna's  heart  brimmed  over 
with  joy  and  merriment  and  instead  of  remaining  for 
one  day,  she  would  spend  three  or  four  days  at  Golov- 
liovo. And  on  the  way  back  to  Pogorelka  she  would 
think  up  a  pretext  for  returning  as  soon  as  possible 
to  the  temptations  of  the  "good  living"  there. 


CHAPTER  III 

It  was  the  end  of  November.  As  far  as  eye  could 
see  the  ground  was  covered  with  a  white  shroud.  A 
bHzzard  reigned  in  the  night  outdoors ;  the  biting  wind 
drove  the  snow,  piled  up  huge  snow-drifts  in  an  in- 
stant, lashed  the  snow  higher  and  higher,  covering 
every  object  and  filling  the  air  \vith  a  wailing.  The 
village,  the  church,  the  nearby  woods,  all  vanished 
in  the  whirling  snowy  mist.  The  wind  howled  in  the 
trees  of  the  ancient  Golovliovo  orchard.  But  inside 
the  landlord's  manor  it  was  warm  and  cozy.  In  the 
dining-room  there  was  a  samovar  on  the  table. 
Around  it  were  Arina  Petrovna,  Porfiry  Vladimirych, 
and  Yevpraksia.  To  one  side  stood  a  card-table  with 
tattered  cards  on  it.  The  open  door  from  the  dining- 
room  led  on  one  side  to  the  ikon  room,  all  flooded 
with  light  from  the  ikon  lamps,  on  the  other,  to  the 
master's  study,  where  an  ikon  lamp  was  also  burning 
before  an  image.  The  rooms  were  overheated  and 
stuffy,  the  odor  of  olive  oil  and  of  the  charcoal  burn- 
ing in  the  samovar  filled  the  air.  Yevpraksia,  seated 
in  front  of  the  samovar,  was  engaged  in  ^rinsing  the 
cups  and  drying  them  with  a  disHTowel.  The  samo- 
var made  spirited  music,  now  humming  aloud  with  all 
its  might,  now  falling  into  a  doze,  as  it  were,  and 
snoring.  Clouds  of  steam  escaped  from  under  the 
cover  and  wrapped  the  tea-pot  in  a  mist.  The  three 
at  the  table  were  conversing. 

i68 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         169 

"Well,  how  many  times  were  you  the  ^fool'  to-day?" 
Arina  Petrovna  asked  Yevpraksia. 

"I  shouldn't  have  been  fool  once  if  I  hadn't  given  in. 
I  wanted  to  please  you,  you  see,"  answered  Yevpraksia. 

''Fiddlesticks !  I  remember  how  pleased  you  were 
last  time  when  I  bombarded  you  with  threes  and  fives. 
You  see,  I  am  not  Porfiry  Vladimirych.  He  makes  it 
easy  for  you,  hands  only  one  at  a  time,  but  I,  my 
dear,  have  no  reason  to." 

"Yes,  indeed !     You  were  playing  foul  1" 

"Well,  I  say!     I  never  do  such  things." 

"No?  Who  was  it  I  caught  a  little  while  ago? 
Who  wanted  to  slip  through  a  seven  of  clubs  and  an 
eight  of  hearts  and  call  them  a  pair?  Well,  I  saw  it 
myself  and  I  myself  showed  you  up !"  While  talk- 
ing Yevpraksia  rose  to  remove  the  tea-pot  from  the 
samovar  and  turned  her  back  to  Arina  Petrovna. 

"My,  what  a  back  you  have!  God  bless  you!" 
Arina  Petrovna  exclaimed,  in  involuntary  admiration. 

"Yes,  a  wonderful  back,"  Yudushka  repeated  me- 
chanically. 

"My  back  again !  Aren't  you  ashamed  of  yourself? 
What  has  my  back  done  to  you?"  Yevpraksia  turned 
her  back  first  to  the  right,  then  to  the  left,  and  smiled. 
Her  back  was  her  joy.  A  few  days  before  even  the 
cook  Savelich,  an  old  man,  had  looked  at  her  admir- 
ingly and  said :  "Well,  well,  what  a  back !  Just  like 
a  hearth-plate !"  She  did  not,  be  it  noticed,  com- 
plain to  Porfiry  Vladimirych  about  the  cook's  remark. 

The  cups  were  filled  with  tea  over  and  over  again, 
and  the  samovar  grew  silent.  Meanwhile  the  snow- 
storm became  fiercer  and  fiercer.  A  veritable  cataract 
of  snow  struck  the  windowpanes  every  now  and  then, 
and  wild  sobs  ran  at  intervals  down  the  chimnev  flue. 


I70  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

''The  storm  seems  to  be  in  real  earnest,"  said  Arina 
Petrovna.     ''Listen  to  it  howling  and  whining." 

"Oh,  well,  let  it  whine.  The  blizzard  keeps  on 
whining  and  we  keep  on  drinking  tea.  That's  how  it 
is,  mother  dear,"  replied  Porfiry  Vladimirych. 

"It  must  be  a  terrible  thing  for  one  to  be  out  in  the 
fields  now." 

"Yes,  it  may  be  terrible  to  some,  but  what  do  w^e 
care?  Some  feel  cold  and  dreary,  but  we  are  bright 
and  cheery.  We  sit  here  and  sip  our  tea,  with  sugar, 
and  cream,  and  lemon.  And  should  we  want  tea  with 
rum,  we  can  have  it  with  rum." 

"Yes,  but  suppose " 

"Just  a  moment,  mother  dear.  I  say,  it  is  very  bad 
in  the  open  now.  There  is  no  road  or  path.  Every- 
thing is  wiped  out.  And  then — wolves !  But  here 
we  are  warm  and  cozy,  afraid  of  nothing.  We  just 
keep  sitting  here,  quietly  and  peacefully.  If  we  want 
to  play  a  little  game  of  cards,  we  play  cards;  if  we 
want  to  have  some  hot  tea,  well,  then  we  have  tea. 
We  won't  drink  more  than  we  want  to,  but  we  may 
drink  to  our  heart's  content.  And  why  all  this?  Be- 
cause, mother  dear,  God's  mercy  is  with  us.  Were 
it  not  for  Him,  the  King  of  Kings,  maybe  we,  too, 
would  now  be  wandering  in  the  fields,  in  the  cold  and 
the  darkness,  in  a  shabby  little  coat,  a  flimsy  little 
girdle,  bast  shoes." 

"Oh,  come  now,  w^hat  do  you  mean — bast  shoes? 
We  are  gentlefolk,  surely.  In  any  circumstances  we 
can  afford  decent  footwear." 

"Do  you  know  why  v^e  w^ere  born  in  the  gentry, 
mother  dear?  All  because  God's  mercy  was  with  us. 
Were  it  not  for  that  we  would  now  be  in  a  hut  and 
it  would  be  lighted  not  by  a  candle  but  by  a  luchina 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         171 

and  as  to  tea  or  coffee,  we  wouldn't  dare  dream  about 
them.  I  would  be  patching  my  miserable  little  bast 
shoes,  and  you  would  be  getting  ready  to  sup  off  thin 
cabbage  soup,  and  Yevpraksia  would  be  weaving  tick, 
and  on  top  of  it  all,  maybe  the  desyatsky  would  come 
to  press  us  and  the  wagon  into  service." 

*'Yes,  catch  the  desyatsky  coming  on  a  night  like 
this !" 

"Who  knows,  mother  dear?  And  maybe  the  regi- 
ments would  come!  Maybe  there  would  be  war  or 
mutiny.  The  regiments  must  be  there  on  the  dot. 
The  other  day,  for  instance,  the  chief  of  police  was 
telling  me  Napoleon  IIL  had  died.  So  you  may  be 
sure  the  French  will  be  up  to  some  mischief  again. 
Naturally,  our  soldiers  will  have  to  make  for  the  front 
at  once,  and  you,  friend  peasant,  will  have  to  get  your 
wagon  out,  quick !  Never  mind  cold,  blizzard,  and 
snowdrifts.  You  go  if  the  authorities  tell  you  to, 
and  if  you  know  what  is  good  for  you.  But  we,  don't 
you  see,  will  be  spared  a  while.  They  won't  turn  us 
out  with  the  wagon." 

"Yes,  who  dares  deny  it  ?  The  mercy  the  Lord  has 
shown  us  is  great." 

"That's  just  what  I  say.  God,  mother  dear,  is 
everything.  He  gives  us  wood  to  burn  and  food  to 
eat.  It's  all  His  doing.  We  think  we  buy  things  our- 
selves, and  pay  our  own  hard  cash,  but  when  you  look 
into  it  more  deeply,  and  reckon  it  up,  and  figure  it 
out,  it's  all  He,  it's  all  God.  If  it  be  His  will,  we'll 
have  nothing.  Here,  for  instance,  I  would  like  to  have 
some  fine  little  oranges,  I  would  have  some  myself, 
would  offer  one  to  my  mother  dear,  would  give  an 
orange  to  everyone.  I  have  the  money  to  buy  oranges. 
Suppose  I  produce  some  coin  and  say,  'Here,  let  me 


172  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

have  some  oranges/  but  God  says,  *HaIt,  man !'    Then 
here  I  am,  a  philosopher  without  cucumbers." 

They  laughed. 

^'That's  all  talk,"  said  Yevpraksia.  "My  uncle  was 
sexton  at  the  Uspenye  Church  in  Pesochnoye.  You 
may  be  sure  he  was  as  pious  a  man  as  ever  was.  So 
I  think  God  ought  to  have  done  something  for  him. 
But  he  was  caught  in  a  snowstorm  out  in  the  fields 
and  froze  to  death  all  the  same." 

^'That's  just  my  point.  If  such  is  God's  will,  you 
will  freeze  to  death,  and  if  such  is  not  His  will,  you 
will  remain  alive.  There  are  prayers  that  please  God 
and  there  are  prayers  that  do  not  please  Him.  If 
a  prayer  pleases  God  it  will  reach  Him,  if  it  does  not, 
you  may  as  well  not  pray  at  all." 

"I  remember  in  1824  I  was  travelling  and  was  preg- 
nant with  Pavel.  It  was  in  the  month  of  December, 
and  I  was  going  to  Moscow " 

''Just  a  moment,  mother  dear.  Let  me  finish  about 
the  prayers.  A  man  prays  for  everything,  for  he 
needs  everything.  He  needs  some  butter  and  some 
cabbage,  and  some  gherkins,  well,  in  a  word,  he  needs 
■everything.  Sometimes  he  doesn't  need  the  thing,  but 
in  his  human  weakness  he  prays  for  it  all  the  same. 
But  God  from  above  sees  better.  You  pray  for  butter, 
and  he  gives  you  cabbage  or  onions.  You  are  after 
fair  and  warm  weather  and  he  sends  you  rain  and  hail. 
What  you  have  to  do  is  to  understand  it  all  and  not 
complain.  Last  September,  for  example,  we  prayed 
God  for  frost,  so  that  the  winter  corn  might  not  rot, 
hut  God,  you  see,  sent  no  frosts,  and  our  winter  corn 
rotted  away." 

*Tt  certainly  did  rot  away,"  remarked  Arina  Pet- 
rovna  commiseratingly.     "The  peasants'  winter  fields 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         173 

at  Novinky  weren't  worth  a  straw.  They'll  have  to 
plow  them  all  over  and  plant  spring  corn." 

'That's  just  it.  Here  we  are  planning  and  philo- 
sophizing, and  figuring  it  one  way,  and  trying  it  an- 
other way,  but  God  in  a  trice  reduces  all  our  plots  and 
plans  to  dust.  You,  mother  dear,  wanted  to  tell  us 
something  that  happened  to  you  in  1824?" 

"What  was  it?  I  really  don't  remember.  I  sup- 
pose I  wanted  to  tell  you  again  about  God's  mercy. 
I  don't  remember,  my  friend,  I  don't." 

''Well,  you'll  recall  it  some  other  time,  if  God  is 
willing.  And  while  the  blizzard  is  whirling  out  there 
you'd  better  have  some  jam,  my  dear.  This  is  cherry 
jam  from  the  Golovliovo  orchard.  Yevpraksia  her- 
self put  it  up." 

'T  am  already  helping  myself  to  some.  I  must  ad- 
mit cherry  jam  is  a  rare  thing  with  me  now.  Years 
ago    I    used    to    indulge    every    now    and    then,    but 

now !     Your  Golovliovo  cherries  are  fine,  so  large 

and  juicy.  No  matter  how  hard  I  tried  to  grow  them 
at  Dubrovino,  they  wouldn't  come.  Did  you  add  some 
French  brandy  to  the  jam,  Yevpraksia?" 

"Of  course  I  did.  Followed  your  directions.  An- 
other thing  I  meant  to  ask  you,  how  do  you  pickle 
cucumbers,  do  you  use  cardamoms?" 

Arina  Petrovna  thought  a  bit,  then  made  a  gesture 
of  perplexity. 

'T  don't  remember,  my  dear.  I  think  I  used  to  put 
cardamoms  in.  Now  I  don't.  My  pickling  now  is 
not  much.  But  I  used  to  put  cardamoms  in,  yes,  I 
remember  very  well  now.  When  I  get  home  I'll  look 
among  the  recipes,  maybe  I'll  find  it.  When  I  had  my 
strength  I  used  to  make  a  note  of  everything.  If  I 
liked  something  somewhere,  I  would  ask  how  it  was 


174  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

made,  write  it  on  a  piece  of  paper,  and  then  try 
it  at  home.  I  once  learned  a  secret,  such  a  secret 
that  the  man  who  knew  it  was  offered  a  thousand 
rubles  to  tell.  He  wouldn't  do  it.  And  I  gave  the 
housekeeper  a  quarter,  and  she  told  me  every  bit  of  it." 

"Yes,  mother  dear,  in  your  day  you  certainly  were 
a  wizard." 

"Well,  I  don't  know  if  I  was  a  wizard,  but  I  can 
thank  the  Lord,  I  didn't  squander  my  fortune.  I  kept 
adding  to  it.  Even  now  I  taste  of  my  righteous  la- 
bors. It  was  I  who  planted  the  cherry  trees  in  Go- 
lovliovo." 

"Thanks  for  it,  mother  dear,  many  thanks.  Eter- 
nal thanks  from  me  and  my  descendants.  That's  what 
I  say." 

Yudushka  rose,  went  to  mother  dear  and  kissed 
her  hand. 

"And  thanks  to  you,  too,  that  you  take  your  mother's 
welfare  to  heart.  Yes,  your  provisions  are  fine,  very 
fine." 

"Well,  how  do  my  provisions  compare?  You  used 
to  have  provisions — perfectly  stunning!  My,  w^hat 
cellars!     And  not  an  empty  spot!" 

"Yes,  I  used  to  have  provisions,  I  may  as  well  be 
frank  about  it.  Mine  was  a  well-stocked  house. 
And  as  to  the  many  cellars  I  had,  well,  the  household 
was  much  larger,  ten  times  as  many  mouths  as  you 
have  to-day.  Take  the  domestics  alone.  Everyone 
had  to  be  fed  and  provided  for.  Gherkins  for  one, 
cider  for  another,  little  by  little,  bit  by  bit,  and  it 
mounts  up." 

"Yes,  those  were  good  times.  Plenty  of  everything. 
Grain  and  fruit,  all  in  abundance." 

"We  used  to  save  more  manure,  that  is  why." 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         175 

"'No,  mother  dear,  that  is  not  the  reason.  It  was 
God's  blessing,  that's  what  it  was.  I  remember  father 
once  brought  an  apple  from  the  orchard,  and  it  sur- 
prised everybody,  it  was  too  big  to  be  put  on  a  plate." 

"Well,  I  don't  remember  that.  I  know  generally 
that  apples  used  to  be  line,  but  that  they  were  the 
size  of  a  plate,  that  I  don't  remember.  I  do  remem- 
ber though,  that  we  caught  a  carp  in  the  Dubrovino 
pond  weighing  twenty  pounds,  yes,  I  remember  that." 

''Carps  and  fruit — everything  was  large  then.  I 
remember  the  watermelons  the  gardener  Ivan  used  to 
get.     They  were  as  big  as  this !" 

Yudushka  stretched  out  his  arms  in  a  circle,  pre- 
tending he  could  not  embrace  the  imaginary  water- 
melon. 

"Yes,  those  were  watermelons.  Watermelons,  my 
friend,  are  according  to  the  year.  One  year  you  get 
lots  of  them  and  they  are  good.  Another  year  they 
are  poor  and  few.  And  some  years  you  don't  get 
any  at  all.  Well,  it  depends  upon  the  lucky  ground, 
too.  On  the  estate  of  Grigory  Aleksandrovich,  for  ex- 
ample, nothing  came  up,  no  fruit  and  no  berries — 
nothing.  Only  melons.  Nothing  but  melons  used  to 
come  up." 

"Then  he  had  God's  blessing  for  melons." 

"Why,  yes,  certainly.  You  can't  get  along  without 
God's  mercy.     You  can't  run  away  from  it  either." 

Arina  Petrovna  finished  her  second  cup  and  cast 
glances  at  the  card  table.  Yevpraksia,  too,  was  burn- 
ing with  impatience  to  have  a  hand  at  cards.  But  the 
plans  were  thwarted  by  Arina  Petrovna  herself.  She 
suddenly  recollected  something. 

"I  have  a  bit  of  news  for  you,"  she  declared.  ''I  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  the  orphans  yesterday." 


1/6  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"And  you  kept  it  to  yourself  all  this  time,  and  only 
just  thought  of  it?  I  suppose  they  are  hard  up.  Do 
they  ask  for  money?" 

*'No,  they  do  not.     Here,  read  it.     You'll  like  it." 

Arina  Petrovna  produced  a  letter  from  her  pocket 
and  gave  it  to  Yudushka,  who  read  aloud: 

"Please,  grandma,  don't  send  us  any  more  turkeys 
or  hens.  Don't  send  us  money,  either,  but  invest  the 
money.  We  are  not  at  Moscow  but  at  Kharkov. 
We've  gone  on  the  stage,  and  in  summer  we  are  going 
to  travel  to  the  fairs.  I,  Anninka,  made  my  debut  in 
Pericola,  and  Lubinka  in  Pansies.  I  was  called  out 
several  times,  especially  after  the  scene  where  Pericola 
comes  out  and  sings  *I  am  ready,  ready,  read-d-d-y!' 
Lubinka  made  a  hit,  too.  The  director  put  me  on  a 
salary  of  one  hundred  rubles  a  month  and  a  benefit 
performance  at  Kharkov ;  and  Lubinka,  at  seventy- 
five  a  month  and  a  benefit  the  coming  summer,  at  a 
fair.  Besides,  we  get  gifts  from  army  officers  and 
lawyers.  The  lawyers  sometimes,  though,  give  you 
counterfeit  money,  and  you  have  to  be  careful.  And 
you,  dear  granny,  can  have  Pogorelka  all  to  yourself, 
we  will  never  come  there  again,  we  don't  under- 
stand how  people  can  live  there.  We  had  the  first 
snow  here  yesterday,  and  we  had  troika  rides  with  the 
lawyers.  One  looks  like  Plevako — my!  just  stunning! 
He  put  a  glass  of  champagne  on  his  head  and  danced 
a  trepak.  It's  jolly,  beats  anything  I've  seen !  The 
other  one  isn't  so  handsome,  he  looks  a  little  like  Yazi- 
kov  from  St.  Petersburg.  Just  think,  after  he  read 
"The  Collection  of  the  Best  Russian  Songs  and  Ro- 
mances," his  imagination  became  unstrung  and  he 
got  so  weak  that  he  fainted  in  the  court-room. 
And  so  wx  spend  almost  every  day  in  the  company  of 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         177 

army  officers  and  lawyers.  We  go  on  rides  and  dine 
and  sup  in  the  best  restaurants,  and  pay  nothing.  And 
you,  granny  dear,  don't  be  stingy  and  use  up  every- 
thing growing  in  Pogorelka,  corn,  chickens,  mush- 
rooms. We  shall  be  very  glad  to  send  some  money. 
Good-by.  Our  gentlemen  have  just  arrived.  They 
have  come  to  take  us  driving  again.  Darling!  Di- 
vine !    Farewell ! 

Anninka. 
And  I,  too — LuBiNKA. 

Yudushka  spat  in  disgust  and  returned  the  letter. 
For  a  while  Arina  Petrovna  was  pensive  and  silent. 

"Mother  dear,  you  haven't  answered  them  yet?" 

"No,  not  yet.  I  just  got  the  letter  yesterday.  I 
came  here  on  purpose  to  show  it  to  you,  but  between 
this  and  that  I  almost  forgot  all  about  it." 

"Don't  answer  it.     It's  best  not  to." 

"How  can  I?  I  must  account  to  them.  Pogorelka 
is  theirs,  you  know." 

Yudushka  also  became  pensive.  A  sinister  plan 
flashed  through  his  mind. 

"And  I  keep  wondering  how  they  will  preserve 
themselves  in  that  foul  den,"  Arina  Petrovna  contin- 
ued. "You  know  how  it  is  in  these  things — once  you 
stumble,  you  can't  get  your  maiden  honor  back!  Go 
hunt  for  it !" 

"Much  they  need  it!"  Yudushka  snarled  back. 

"Still,  you  know.  Honor  is  a  girl's  best  treasure, 
one  may  say.     Who  will  marry  a  girl  without  it?" 

"Nowadays,  mother  dear,  unmarried  people  live  like 
married  ones.  Nowadays  they  laugh  at  the  precepts 
of  religion.  They  get  married  without  benefit  of 
clergy,  like  heathens.     They  call  it  civil  marriage." 


178  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

Yudushka  suddenly  recollected  that  he,  too,  was 
living  in  sinful  relationship  with  a  daughter  of  the 
clergy. 

''Of  course,  sometimes  you  can't  help  it,"  he  has- 
tened to  add.  "li  a  man,  let  us  say,  is  in  full  vigor 
and  a  widower — in  an  emergency  the  law  itself  is  often 
modified." 

''Yes,  of  course.  When  hard  pressed  a  snipe  sings 
like  a  nightingale.  Even  saints  sin  when  sorely  tried, 
let  alone  us  mortals." 

"Yes,  that's  just  it.  Do  you  know  what  I  would 
do  if  I  were  you?" 

"Yes,  tell  me,  please  tell  me." 

"I  would  insist  that  they  make  Pogorelka  over  to 
you  in  full  legal  fashion." 

Arina  Petrovna  looked  at  him  in  fright. 

"Well,  I  have  a  deed  giving  me  the  full  powers  and 
rights  of  a  manager." 

"Manager  is  not  enough.  You  ought  to  get  a  deed 
that  would  entitle  you  to  sell  and  mortgage  it,  in  a 
word,  to  dispose  of  the  property  as  you  see  fit." 

Arina  Petrovna  lowered  her  eyes  and  remained 
silent. 

"Of  course,  it  is  a  matter  that  requires  deliberation. 
Think  it  over,  mother  dear,"  Yudushka  insisted. 

But  Arina  Petrovna  said  nothing.  Though  age 
had  considerably  dulled  her  powers  of  judgment,  she 
was  somehow  uneasy  about  Yudushka's  insinuations. 
She  was  afraid  of  Yudushka,  and  loath  to  part  with 
the  Avarmth,  spaciousness,  and  abundance  that  reigned 
at  Golovliovo,  but  at  the  same  time  she  felt  that  Yu- 
dushka had  something  up  his  sleeve  when  he  spoke  of 
the  Pogorelka  deed,  and  was  casting  a  new  snare.  The 
situation  grew  so  embarrassing  that  she  began  to  scold 


/r^*S, 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         179 

herself   inwardly   for  having   shown   him   the   letter. 
Happily  Yevpraksia  came  to  the  rescue. 

''Well,  are  we  going  to  play  cards  or  not?"  she 
asked. 

"Yes,  come  on,  come  on!"  Arina  Petrovna  hur- 
ried them  and  jumped  up  quickly.  On  her  way  to  the 
card  table  a  new  thought  dawned  upon  her. 

''Do  you  know  what  day  it  is?"  she  turned  to  Por- 
firy  Vladimirych. 

"The  twenty- third  of  November,"  Yudushka  re- 
plied, somewhat  nonplussed. 

"Yes,  the  twenty-third.  Do  you  remember  what 
happened  on  the  twenty-third  of  November?  You 
have  forgotten  about  the  requiem,  haven't  you?" 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  turned  pale  and  made  the  sign 
of  the  cross. 

"Oh,  Lord !  Did  you  ever !"  he  exclaimed.  "Real- 
ly? Is  that  so?  Just  a  moment.  Let's  look  at  the 
calendar." 

In  a  few  minutes  he  had  brought  the  calendar  and 
taken  out  a  sheet  of  paper  inserted  in  it,  on  which 
was  written. 

"November  22,.  The  death  of  my  dear  son 
Vladimir." 

"Rest  in  peace,  beloved  dust,  till  the  joyous  morn. 
And  pray  the  Lord  for  your  father,  who  will  never  fail 
to  have  memorial  services  performed  on  this  day." 

"There,  now !"  said  Porfiry  Vladimirych.  "Ah, 
Volodya !  You  are  not  a  good  son.  You  are  a  wick- 
ed son.  You  haven't  prayed  for  your  papa  in  Heaven, 
it  seems,  and  so  he  has  lost  his  memory.  What  are 
we  going  to  do  about  it,  mother  dear?" 

"It  is  not- so  terrible,  after  all.  You  can  have  the 
requiem  service  tomorrow.     A  requiem  and  a  mass — 


i8o  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

we'll  have  both  of  them  sung.  It  is  all  my  fault,  I 
am  old  and  have  lost  my  memory.  I  came  on  purpose 
to  remind  you,  but  on  my  way  it  slipped  my  mind." 

"Ah,  what  a  sin !  It  is  a  good  thing  the  ikon  lamps 
are  burning.  It  is  as  if  it  had  dawned  on  me  from 
above.  To-day  is  not  a  holiday,  but  the  lamps  have 
been  left  burning  ever  since  the  day  of  Presentation. 
The  other  day  Yevpraksia  came  over  to  me  and  asked : 
'Do  you  think  I  ought  to  put  out  the  side  ikon  lamps  ?' 
And  I,  as  if  a  voice  were  speaking  to  me  from  within, 
thought  a  Avhile  and  said  :  'Don't  touch  them.  Let  them 
burn.'    And  now  I  see  what  it  all  meant." 

''Well,  it  is  good  at  least  the  lamps  have  been  burn- 
ing. It  is  some  relief  to  the  soul.  Where  will  you 
sit?  Will  you  be  my  partner,  or  will  you  join  your 
queen  ?" 

"But,  mother  dear,  I  don't  know  if  it's  proper." 

"Yes,  it  is.  Sit  down.  God  will  forgive  you.  It 
wasn't  done  on  purpose,  with  evil  intentions.  It  w^as 
just  because  you  forgot.  It  may  happen  even  to 
saints.  To-morrow,  you  see,  we'll  rise  with  the  sun, 
and  stand  throughout  the  mass  and  have  the  requiem 
sung — all  as  it  should  be.  His  soul  will  rejoice  that 
good  people  remembered  him,  and  we  wall  be  at  peace 
because  we  did  our  duty.  That's  the  way  to  do,  my 
friend.  No  use  worrying.  I'll  always  say,  in  the 
first  place,  Avorry  will  not  bring  back  your  son,  and,  in 
the  second  place,  it  is  a  sin  before  God." 

Yudushka  yielded  to  the  persuasiveness  of  these 
w^rds,  and  kissed  his  mother's  hands. 

"Ah,  mother,  mother,  you  have  a  golden  soul,  really ! 
If  not  for  you  what  would  I  do  now?  It  would  be 
the  end  of  me,  that's  all.  I  just  wouldn't  know  what 
to  do  and  would  go  under." 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         i8i 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  gave  orders  for  to-morrow's 
ceremony,  and  all  sat  down  to  play.  They  played 
one  hand  out,  then  another.  Arina  Petrovna  became 
heated  and  denounced  Yudushka  because  he  had  been 
handing  Yevpraksia  only  one  card  at  a  time.  In  the 
intervals  between  the  deals,  Yudushka  abandoned  him- 
self to  reminiscences  of  his  dead  son. 

"And  how  kind  he  was,"  he  said.  "He  wouldn't 
take  a  thing  without  permission.  If  he  needed  paper, 
'May  I  have  some  paper,  papa?'  'Yes,  you  may,  my 
friend.'  Or,  'Won't  you  be  so  kind,  father  dear,  as 
to  order  carps  for  breakfast?'  *If  you  wish  it,  my 
friend.'  Ah,  Volodya,  my  son,  you  were  a  good  lad 
in  every  way,  but  it  was  not  good  of  you  to  leave  your 
father." 

A  few  more  hands  were  played,  and  Yudushka 
again  gave  vent  to  his  reminiscences. 

"And,  pray,  what  in  the  world  happened  to  him  ?  I 
really  can't  understand  it.  He  lived  quietly  and  nicely, 
was  a  joy  to  me — it  couldn't  have  been  better.  And  all 
of  a  sudden — bang!  What  a  sin,  what  a  sin!  Just 
think  of  it,  mother  dear,  what  a  deed!  His  very  life, 
the  gift  of  the  Heavenly  Father.  Why?  What  for? 
What  did  he  lack?  Was  it  money?  I  think  I  never 
held  back  his  allowance.  Even  my  enemies  will  not 
dare  say  that  about  me.  Well,  and  if  his  allowance 
was  not  enough,  I  couldn't  help  it.  Your  father's 
money  wasn't  stolen  money.  If  you  haven't  enough 
money,  well,  learn  to  restrain  yourself.  You  can't 
always  be  eating  cookies,  you  must  sometimes  be 
content  with  simpler  fare.  Yes,  you  must.  Your 
father,  for  example,  expected  some  money  the  other 
day,  and  then  the  manager  comes  and  says,  *The 
Torpenlovskoye  peasants  won't  pay  their  rent.'    Well, 


i82  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

I  couldn't  help  it,  I  wrote  a  complaint  to  the  Justice  of 
the  Peace.  Ah,  Volodya,  Volodya!  No,  you  were 
not  a  good  boy.  You  deserted  your  poor  father.  Left 
him  an  orphan." 

The  livelier  the  game  the  more  copious  and  senti- 
mental Yudushka's  reminiscences. 

"And  how  bright  he  was!  I  remember  once,  he 
was  laid  up  with  the  measles.  He  was  no  more  than 
seven  years  old.  My  late  Sasha  came  over  to  him, 
and  he  says,  'Mother,  mother,  is  it  true  that  only 
angels  have  wings  ?'  Well,'  she  said,  'yes,  only  angels.' 
'Why?'  he  asked.  'Did  father  have  wings  when  he 
came  here  a  w^hile  ago?'  " 

Yudushka  remained  the  fool  with  as  many  as  eight 
cards  on  his  hands,  among  them  the  ace,  king  and 
queen  of  trumps.  Peals  of  laughter  rose,  Yudushka 
was  displeased,  but  he  affably  joined  in  the  merriment. 
In  the  midst  of  the  general  excitement,  Arina  Petrovna 
suddenly  grew  silent  and  listened  attentively. 

"Stop,  be  quiet.     Somebody  is  coming,"  she  said. 

Yudushka  and  Yevpraksia  listened,  but  heard  no 
sound. 

"I  tell  you,  somebody  is  coming.  Listen,  listen! 
Someone  is  coming  and  he  is  not  far  off." 

They  listened  again,  and  surely  there  was  a  faint 
tinkling  in  the  distance,  which  the  wind  brought  near- 
er one  moment  and  carried  away  the  next.  Five  min- 
utes later  the  bells  were  distinctly  heard.  The  sound 
of  them  was  followed  by  voices  in  the  court-yard. 

"The  young  master,  Piotr  Porfirych,  has  arrived," 
came  from  the  antechamber. 

Yudushka  rose,  and  remained  standing,  dumfound- 
ed  and  pale  as  death. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Petenka  walked  in  looking  flabby  and  dispirited, 
kissed  his  father's  hand,  observed  the  same  ceremony 
with  his  grandmother,  then  bowed  to  Yevpraksia,  and 
sat  down.  He  was  about  twenty-five,  rather  good- 
looking,  in  an  army  officer's  travelling  uniform.  That 
was  all  one  could  say  about  him.  Even  Yudushka 
knew  scarcely  more.  The  relations  of  father  and  son 
were  not  of  the  kind  one  could  call  strained.  There 
simply  were  no  relations,  you  might  say.  Yudushka 
knew  Petenka  to  be  a  man  who  in  the  eyes  of  the  law 
was  his  son  and  to  whom  he  had  to  send  a  certain 
allowance  determined  by  Yudushka  himself,  in  con- 
sideration of  which  he  was  entitled  to  homage  and 
obedience.  Petenka,  on  the  other  hand,  knew  that 
he  had  a  father  who  could  make  things  unpleasant 
for  him  at  any  time  he  wished.  He  made  trips  to 
Golovliovo  quite  willingly,  especially  since  he  had  be- 
come a  commissioned  officer,  not  because  he  greatly 
enjoyed  his  father's  company,  but  simply  because 
every  man  who  is  not  clearly  conscious  of  his  aim  in 
life  instinctively  gravitates  to  his  native  place.  But 
now,  apparently,  he  had  come  because  he  had  been 
obliged  to  come,  and  consequently  manifested  not  a 
single  sign  of  the  joyous_perplexity  with  which  every 
prodigal  son  of  the  gisntry  celetrrates  his  arrival  home. 
Petenka  was  not  talkative. 

183 


;i84  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

All  his  father's  ejaculations  of  pleasant  surprise 
were  met  with  silence,  or  a  forced  smile,  and  when 
Yudushka  asked,  ''Why  did  it  occur  to  you  all  of  a 
sudden?'^  he  answered  even  crossly,  "It  just  occurred 
to  me  and  here  I  am." 

"Well,  thank  you,  thank  you  for  remembering  your 
father.  I  am  glad  you  came.  I  suppose  you  thought 
-of  grandmother,  too?" 

*'Yes,  I  thought  of  grandmother,  too." 

"^'Hold  on !  Maybe  you  recollected  that  today  is  the 
anniversay  of  your  brother  Volodenka's  death?" 

"Yes,  I  thought  of  that,  too." 

Thus  the  conversation  went  for  about  half  an  hour, 
so  that  it  was  impossible  to  tell  whether  Petenka  were 
answering  or  dodging  the  questions.  So,  in  spite  of 
Yudushka's  tolerance  of  his  children's  indifference  to 
him,  he  could  not  refrain  from  remarking: 

"Well,  my  child,  you  are  not  affectionate.  One 
could  hardly  call  you  an  affectionate  son !" 

Had  Petenka  kept  silence  this  time  also,  had  he 
taken  his  father's  remark  meekly,  or  better  still,  had 
ihe  kissed  his  father's  hand  and  said,  "Excuse  me,  fa- 
ther dear,  you  know  I  am  tired  from  the  journey," 
things  would  have  passed  off  pleasantly.  But  Petenka 
ibehaved  like  an  ungrateful  child. 

■^'Yes,  that's  what  I  am,"  he  answered  gruffly.  "Let 
me  alone,  please." 

Then  Porfiry  Vladimirych  felt  so  hurt,  so  wounded 
that  he  could  not  keep  quiet  any  longer. 

"To  think  of  the  pains  I  have  taken  for  your  sake !" 
he  said  with  bitterness.  "Even  here  I  never  stop 
thinking  how  to  improve  this  and  that,  so  that  you 
may  be  comfortable  and  cozy,  and  suffer  no  lack,  and 
have  no  worry.     And  all  of  you  fight  shy  of  me." 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         185 

"Who  is  'all  of  you'  Г 

*'Well,  you.  And  the  deceased,  too,  may  his  soul 
rest  in  peace,  he  was  just  the  same." 

"Well,  I  am  grateful  to  you." 

"I  don't  see  your  gratitude — neither  gratitude  nor 
affection — nothing." 

"I'm  not  affectionate — that's  all.  But  you  speak 
in  the  plural  all  the  time.     One  of  us  is  dead  already." 

"Yes,  he  is  dead.  God  punished  him.  God  pun- 
ishes disobedient  children.  Still,  I  remember  him. 
He  was  unruly,  but  I  remember  him.  Tomorrow, 
you  see,  we  shall  have  the  memorial  services  performed. 
He  offended  me,  but  I,  notwithstanding,  remember  my 
duty.  Lord!  The  sort  of  thing  that  goes  on  these 
days!  Here  a  son  comes  to  his  father  and  snarls 
at  the  very  first  word.  Is  that  how  we  acted  in  our 
days?  I  remember  we  used  to  come  to  Golovliovo, 
and  when  we  were  thirty  versts  away,  we  began  to 
shiver  in  our  boots.  Well,  here  is  mother  dear,  a  live 
witness,  she  will  tell  you.  And  nowadays.  I  don't 
understand  it.     I  don't  understand  it." 

"I  don't  either.  I  came  quietly,  greeted  you,  kissed 
your  hand  and  now  I  sit  here  and  don't  bother  you. 
I  drink  tea,  and  if  you  give  me  supper,  I'll  have  my 
supper.     Why  did  you  raise  all  this  fuss  ?" 

Arina  Petrovna  sat  in  her  chair  listening  attentively. 
She  seemed  to  be  hearing  the  same  old  familiar  tale 
that  had  begun  long,  long  ago,  time  out  of  mind. 
Aware  that  such  a  meeting  of  father  and  son  foreboded 
no  good,  she  considered  it  her  duty  to  intervene  and 
put  in  a  word  of  reconciliation : 

"Well,  well,  you  turkey-cocks!"  she  said,  trying  to 
give  the  situation  a  humorous  turn.  "Just  met  and 
already  quarreling.     Look  at  them  jumping  at  each 


i86  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

other,  look  at  them!  Feathers  will  soon  be  flying. 
My,  my,  how  naughty!  Why  don't  you  fellows  sit 
down  quietly  and  properly  and  have  a  friendly  chat, 
and  let  your  old  mother  enjoy  it,  too?  Petenka,  you 
give  in.  My  child,  you  must  always  give  in  to  your 
father,  because  he  is  your  father.  Even  if  at  times 
father  gives  you  bitter  medicine,  take  it  without  com- 
plaint, with  obedience,  with  respect,  because  you  are 
his  son.  Who  knows,  maybe  the  bitter  medicine  will 
turn  sweet — so  it  will  be  to  your  good.  And  you, 
Porfiry  Vladimirych,  come  down  from  your  high 
perch.  He  is  your  son,  young,  delicate.  He  has  made 
seventy-five  versts  over  hollows  and  snow-drifts,  he 
is  tired,  and  chilled,  and  sleepy.  We  are  through  with 
the  tea  now,  suppose  you  order  supper  and  then  let's 
all  go  to  bed.  So,  my  friend.  We'll  all  go  to  our 
nooks  and  offer  up  a  prayer,  and  maybe  our  temper 
will  pass  away.  And  then  we'll  rise  early  in  the 
morning  and  pray  for  Volodya's  soul.  We'll,  have  a 
memorial  service  performed,  and  then  we'll  go  home 
and  have  a  talk.  Both  of  you  will  be  rested  and  you'll 
state  your  affairs  in  a  clear,  orderly  way.  Petenka, 
you  will  tell  us  about  St.  Petersburg  and  you,  Porfiry, 
about  your  country  life.  And  now,  let's  have  supper 
and  to  bed !" 

The  exhortation  had  its  effect  not  because  it  was 
convincing  but  because  Yudushka  himself  saw  he  had 
gone  too  far  and  it  would  be  best  to  end  the  day 
peacefully.  He  rose  from  his  seat,  kissed  his  mother's 
hand,  thanked  her  for  the  ''lesson,"  and  ordered 
supper. 

The  meal  was  eaten  in  morose  silence.  Then  they 
left  the  dining-room  and  went  to  their  rooms.  Little 
by  little  the  house  became  still.     The  dead  quiet  crept 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED    187 

from  room  to  room  and  finally  reached  the  study  of 
the  Golovliovo  master.  Having  finished  the  required 
number  of  genuflexious  before  the  ikons,  Yudushka, 
too,  went  t(f^^.      ~~ 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  lay  in  bed,  but  was  unable  to 
shut  his  eyes.  He  felt  his  son's  arrival  portended 
something  unusual,  and  various  absurd  sermons  al- 
ready rose  in  his  mind.  Yudushka's  harangues  had 
the  merit  of  being  good  for  all  occasions  and  did  not 
consist  of  a  connected  chain  of  thoughts,  but  came  to 
him  in  the  shape  of  fragmentary  aphorisms.  When- 
ever confronted  by  an  extraordinary  situation,  such  a 
flood  of  aphorisms  overwhelmed  him  that  even  sleep 
could  not  drive  them  from  his  consciousness. 

He  could  not  fall  asleep.  He  was  a  prey  to  his 
absurd  sermonizings,  though,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he 
was  not  much  perturbed  by  Petenka's  mysterious  arri- 
val. He  was  prepared  for  no  matter  what  happened. 
He  knew  nothing  would  catch  him  napping  and  noth- 
ing would  make  him  recede  in  the  slightest  from  the 
web  of  empty,  musty  aphorisms  in  w^hich  he  was  en- 
tangled. For  him  there  existed  neither  sorrow  nor  / 
joy,  neither  hatred,  nor  love.  To  him  the  entire  world  . 
was  a  vast  coffin  which  served  him  as  a  pretext  for 
endless  prattling.  ^ 

What  greater  grief  could  there  be  for  a  father  than 
for  his  son  to  commit  suicide  ?  But  even  with  respect 
to  Volodya's  suicide  he  remained  true  to  himself.  It 
had  been  a  very  sad  story,  which  had  lasted  two  years. 
For  two  years  Volodya  had  held  out,  at  first  showing  a 
pride  and  determination  not  to  ask  his  father's 
aid.  Then  he  weakened,  began  to  implore,  to  ex- 
postulate, to  threaten.  In  reply  he  always  received 
a   ready   aphorism,    the    stone   given   to   the   hungry 


i88  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

man.  It  is  doubtful  whether  Yudushka  reaHzed  that 
he  had  handed  his  son  a  stone  and  not  bread.  At  any 
rate  a  stone  was  all  he  had  to  give,  and  so  he  gave 
it.  When  Volodya  shot  himself  he  had  a  requiem 
service  performed,  entered  the  day  of  his  death  in  the 
calendar,  and  promised  himself  to  have  memorial 
services  performed  on  the  23rd  of  November  of  every 
year.  Sometimes  a  dull  voice  muttered  in  his  ears  that 
the  solution  of  a  family  quarrel  by  suicide  is  rather  a 
questionable  method,  to  say  the  least;  and  even  then 
he  brought  into  play  a  train  of  aphorisms,  such  as 
"God  punishes  disobedient  children,"  "God  is  against 
the  proud,"  and  was  at  peace  again. 

And  now !  There  was  no  doubt  that  something  sin- 
ister had  happened  to  Petenka.  But  whatever  had 
happened,  he,  Porfiry  Vladimirych,  must  be  above 
those  chance  happenings.  "You  knew  how  to  get  in, 
then  know  how  to  get  out."  "If  the  cat  wants  the 
fish,  let  her  wet  her  feet."  Just  so.  That  is  what  he 
would  say  to  his  son  the  next  day,  no  matter  what 
Petenka  told  him.  And  suppose  Petenka,  like  Volod- 
ya, wxre  also  to  refuse  to  take  a  stone  instead  of 

bread?     What  if  he,  too Yudushka  drove  the 

thought  from  him.  It  was  a  diabolical  suggestion. 
He  tossed  about  and  tried  in  \^ain  to  fall  asleep. 
Whenever  sleep  seemed  about  to  come,  there  flashed 
across  his  mind  maxims  such  as  "I  should  like  to 
reach  the  sky  but  my  arms  are  too  short,"  or  "You 
•can't  stretch  more  than  the  length  of  your  bed,"  or 
"Speed  is  good  for  nothing  but  catching  fleas." 

TAvaddle  surrounded  him  on  all  sides,  crawled  upon 
him,  crept  over  him,  embraced  him.  Under  this  load 
of  nonsensicality,  with  which  he  hoped  to  regale  his 
soul  tomorrow,  he  could  not  fall  asleep. 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         189 

Nor  could  Petenka  find  sleep,  though  the  journey 
had  tired  him  exceedingly.  He  had  an  affair  that 
could  not  be  settled  anywhere  except  at  Golovliovo, 
but  it  was  a  situation  of  such  a  nature  that  he  did  not 
know  how  to  meet  it.  Petenka,  indeed,  realized  full 
well  that  his  case  was  hopeless  and  his  trip  to  Golov- 
liovo  would  only  add  to  the  difiQculties  of  his  situation. 
But  the  primitive  instinct  of  self-preseration  in  man  . 
overcomes  all  reason  and  urges  him  on  to  try  every-  ^v 
thing  to  the  very  last  straw.  That's  why  he  had  come.  ' 
But  instead  of  hardening  himself  so  as  to  be  prepared 
for  whatever  might  come,  he  had  almost  from  the  first 
word  got  into  a  quarrel  with  his  father.  What  would 
be  the  outcome  of  this  trip?  Would  a  miracle  hap- 
pen? Would  stone  turn  into  bread?  Would  it  not 
have  been  simpler  to  put  the  revolver  to  his  temple 
and  say,  "Gentlemen,  I  am  unworthy  of  wearing  your 
uniform.  I  have  embezzled  crown  money  and  I  pro- 
nounce a  just,  though  severe  sentence  upon  myself"  ? 
Bang!  And  all  is  over.  The  deceased  Lieutenant 
Golovliov  is  hereby  struck  off  the  list  of  officers.  Yes, 
how  radical  that  would  be  and — how  beautiful !  The 
comrades  would  say,  ''You  were  unfortunate,  you  . 
went  too  far,  still  you  were  an  honorable  man." 

But  instead  of  acting  that  way  at  once,  he  had 
brought  the  affair  to  a  point  where  it  became  a  matter 
of  common  knowledge :  and  then  he  had  been  given 
leave  of  absence  for  a  fixed  time  on  condition  that 
within  that  time  he  would  refund  the  embezzled  sum. 
If  not — out  of  the  regiment!  The  disgraceful  end 
of  his  early  career!  So  he  had  come  to  Golovliovo, 
though  he  knew  full  well  that  he  Avould  be  given  a 
stone  instead  of  bread. 

But  perhaps  a  miracle  would  come  to  change  things. 


190  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

Miracles  sometimes  happen.  Perhaps  the  present  Go- 
lovHovo  would  vanish  and  a  new  Golovliovo  would 
arise,  in  which  he  might And  perhaps  grand- 
mother would — hadn't  she  money?  Maybe,  if  he  told 
her  he  was  in  great  trouble,  she  might  give  him  some. 
Who  could  tell?  "Here,"  she  might  say,  'Ъиггу,  so 
that  you  get  back  before  the  time  is  up." 

And  he  rode  fast,  fast — hurried  the  driver,  just 
made  the  train  and  got  to  the  regiment  two  hours  be- 
fore the  respite  was  over.  *'Good  for  you,  Golov- 
liov,"  his  comrades  луоиМ  say,  "your  hand,  honorable 
young  man!  Let's  forget  the  matter."  And  he  not 
only  remained  in  the  regiment,  but  w^as  even  promoted 
to  staff-captain,  then  captain,  after  that  adjutant  of 
the    regiment    (he   had    been    burser,    already)    and, 

finally,  on  the  anniversary  day  of  the  regiment 

Ah,  if  only  the  night  луоиЫ  pass  quickly!  Tomorrow 
— well,  let  happen  what  may  tomorrow.  But  what 
he  would  have  to  listen  to!  Gods,  what  would  he 
not  be  told  !  Tomorrow — but  why  tomorrow  ?  He 
had  a  whole  day  yet.  He  asked  for  two  days  just 
because  he  wanted  to  have  enough  time  to  move 
"him."  A  likely  chance!  A  fine  prospect  of  per- 
suading and  touching  him !     No  use 


Here  his  thoughts  became  confused  and  sank,  one 
after  the  other,  into  the  mist  of  sleep.  In  a  few  min- 
utes the  Golovliovo  manor  was  steeped  in  heavy 
slumber. 

The  next  day  the  w^hole  household  was  up  early  in 
the  morning.  Everybody  went  to  church  except  Pe- 
tenka,  who  pleaded  fatigue.  They  listened  to  the 
mass  and  the  requiem  and  returned  home.  Petenka, 
as  usual,  came  up  to  kiss  his  father's  hand,  but  Yu- 
dushka  extended  it  sidewise,  and  everyone  noticed  that 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         191 

he  did  not  even  make  the  sign  of  the  cross  over  his 
son.  Tea  was  served,  then  kutya.  Yudushka  was 
dismal,  scraped  the  floor  with  his  feet,  avoided  conver- 
sation, sighed,  folded  his  hands  incessantly  as  if  for 
inner  prayer,  and  never  once  looked  at  his  son. 
Petenka,  for  his  part,  bristled  up  and  smoked  one  cig- 
arette after  another.  The  strained  situation  of  yes- 
terday, so  far  from  relaxing,  became  still  more  acute. 
It  made  Arina  Petrovna  very  uneasy,  and  she  decided 
to  find  out  from  Yevpraksia  if  anything  had  hap- 
pened. 

''Has  anything  happened,"  she  asked,  "that  makes 
them  look  daggers  at  each  other  like  that?" 

"How  do  I  know?  I  don't  interfere  in  their  pri- 
vate affairs,"  the  girl  snapped  back. 

"Maybe  it's  on  account  of  you.  Perhaps  my  grand- 
son is  running  after  you  too?" 

"Why  should  he  run  after  me?  A  little  while  ago 
he  tried  to  catch  hold  of  me  in  the  corridor,  and  Por- 
firy  Vladimirych  saw  him." 

"Oh.     So  that's  what  it  is." 

In  fact,  in  spite  of  his  critical  situation,  Petenka  had 
not  lost  a  bit  of  his  levity.  His  eyes  riveted  themselves 
on  Yevpraksia's  powerful  back  and  he  determined  to 
let  her  know  about  it.  That  was  the  real  reason  he 
had  not  gone  to  church,  hoping  Yevpraksia,  as  the 
housekeeper,  would  stay  home.  So,  when  the  house 
had  turned  silent,  he  had  thrown  his  cloak  over  his 
shoulders  and  hidden  himself  in  the  corridor.  A  min- 
ute or  two  passed,  the  door  of  the  maids'  room  banged, 
and  Yevpraksia  appeared  at  the  other  end  of  the  cor- 
ridor, carrying  a  tray  with  a  butter-cake  to  be  served 
with  the  tea.  Petenka  struck  her  between  the  shoul- 
der-blades and  said,  "A  wonderful  back  vou've  erot !" 


192  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

and  that  instant  the  dining-room  door  opened  and  his 
father  appeared. 

"You,  scoundrel!  If  you  came  here  to  behave  in 
a  nasty  way,  I'll  throw  you  down  the  stairs!"  Yu- 
dushka  hissed  venomously. 

Naturally,  Petenka  vanished  in  a  moment.  He 
could  not  fail  to  realize  that  the  incident  of  the  morn- 
ing was  scarcely  likely  to  improve  his  case.  So 
he  decided  to  be  silent  and  postpone  the  explana- 
tion until  the  morrow.  Nevertheless  he  did  nothing 
to  аЦау  his  father's  irritation ;  on  the  contrary,  he 
behaved  in  a  foolish,  unguarded  manner,  smoking 
cigarettes  incessantly,  heedless  of  his  father's  energet- 
ically fanning  away  the  clouds  of  smoke  that  filled  the 
room ;  and  every  now  and  then  making  sheep's  eyes  at 
Yevpraksia,  who  smiled  queerly  under  the  influence  of 
his  glances.    Yudushka  noticed  that,  too. 

The  day  dragged  on  slowly.  Arina  Petrovna  tried 
to  play  fool  with  Yevpraksia,  but  nothing  came  of 
it.  No  one  felt  like  playing  or  talking;  they  could 
not  even  think  of  small  talk,  though  everyone  had 
stores  of  this  merchandise.  At  last  dinner  time  came. 
But  dinner  passed  in  silence  also.  After  dinner  Arina 
Petrovna  made  preparations  for  returning  to  Pogo- 
relka.  But  this  intention  of  his  "mother  dear"  alarmed 
Yudushka. 

"God  bless  you,  darling!"  he  exclaimed.  "Do  you 
mean  to  say  you'll  leave  me  here  alone  with  this — this 
Avicked  son?  No,  no,  don't  think  of  it.  I  won't  al- 
low it." 

"But  what  is  the  matter?  Has  anything  happened 
between  the  two  of  you?  Why  don't  you  tell  me?" 
she  asked. 

"No,  nothing  has  happened — as  yet,  but  you'll  see. 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         193 

No,  please  don't  go!     Be  present  at There  is 

something  behind  his  coming  here  in  such  a  hurry. 
So,  if  anything  happens — you  be  the  witness." 

Arina  Petrovna  shook  her  head  and  decided  to  stay. 

After  dinner  Porfiry  Vladimirych  retired,  having 
first  sent  Yevpraksia  to  the  village  priest,  and  Arina 
Petrovna  also  went  to  her  room  and  dozed  off  in  her 
easy-chair. 

Petenka  thought  it  the  most  favorable  time  to  try 
his  luck  with  grandmother,  and  went  to  her  room. 

''What  is  the  matter?  Have  you  come  to  play  a 
game  of  fool  with  an  old  woman?"  she  asked. 

''No,  granny,  I  am  on  business." 

"Well,  what  is  your  business?     Tell  me." 

Petenka  hesitated  a  minute,  then  blurted  out: 

"I  lost  crown  money  at  cards." 

Arina  Petrovna's  eyes  grew  dim  from  the  shock. 

"Much?"  she  asked  in  a  frightened  voice,  staring 
at  him. 

"Three  thousand." 

For  a  moment  both  were  silent.  Arina  Petrovna 
looked  around  restlessly,  as  if  expecting  somebody  to 
come  to  her  rescue. 

"Do  you  know  they  can  send  you  to  Siberia  for 
that?"  she  said  at  last. 

"Yes,  I  know." 

"Poor  fellow !" 

"Granny,  I  meant  to  borrow  it  from  you.  I'll  pay 
good  interest." 

Arina   Petrovna  became  thoroughly   frightened. 

"Oh  no,  no !"  she  protested.  "I  have  only  enough 
money  for  my  coffin  and  memorial  prayers.  It's  my 
granddaughters  that  keep  me  a-going,  and  my  son,  too. 


194  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

No,  no,  no !  You'd  better  let  me  alone.  Let  me  see 
— why  not  ask  your  papa?" 

"Oh,  well,  you  can't  squeeze  blood  out  of  an  onion. 
All  my  hope  was  in  you,  granny." 

"Just  think  of  what  you  are  saying.  I  would 
gladly  do  it,  but  where  am  I  to  get  the  money  from? 
I  have  no  money  at  all.  But  suppose  you  ask  father, 
you  know,  affectionately,  respectfully.  'Here,  father 
dear,  such  is  the  case.  I  know  I  am  guilty,  I  am 
young  and  I  made  a  blunder.'  You  know,  with  a 
smile  and  a  laugh.  Kiss  his  hand  and  fall  on  your 
knees,  and  cry  a  bit.  He  likes  it.  Then  maybe  father 
will  untie  his  purse  for  his  sonny  dear." 

"So  you  really  think  it's  wюrth  trying?  Just  a 
moment.  See  here,  granny,  suppose  you  say  to  him, 
*If  you  don't  give  him  the  money  I'll  lay  a  curse  on 
you!'  He  has  always  been  afraid  of  your  curse,  you 
know." 

"No,  why  curse?  You  can  ask  right  out.  Do  ask 
him,  my  dear.  There  is  no  harm  if  you  bow  before 
your  father  once  too  many.  He  will  understand  your 
position,  you  know.     Do  it.     Be  sure  to  do  it." 

Petenka,  his  arms  akimbo,  w^alked  back  and  forth 
as  if  deliberating.     Finally  he  halted  and  said: 

"No,  I  won't.  He  is  not  likely  to  give  it — it's  no 
use.  No  matter  what  I  do,  even  if  I  smash  my 
head  in  bowing — he  won't  do  it.  But  you  see,  if  you 
threatened  him  with  your  curse.  What  am  I  to  do, 
granny?" 

"I  don't  know,  really.  Try  and  perhaps  you'll 
soften  him  a  bit.  How  did  you  come  to  take  such 
liberties?  To  lose  crown  money  is  no  small  matter. 
Did  anybody  inveigle  you  into  it?" 

"It  just  happened.     I  took  it  and  lost  it  at  cards. 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         195 

Well,  if  you  have  no  money  of  your  own,  give  me 
some  of  the  orphans'." 

"What  is  the  matter  with  you  ?  Have  you  lost  your 
wits?  How  can  I  let  you  have  the  orphans'  money? 
No,  no,  I  can't.  Don't  talk  to  me  about  it,  for 
Christ's  sake." 

"So  you  won't.  Too  bad.  And  I  would  pay  good 
interest.'  Do  you  want  five  per  cent,  per  month?  No ? 
Well,  double  the  principal  in  a  year?" 

"Don't  you  tempt  me!"  shouted  Arina  Petrovna, 
throwing  up  her  hands.  "Leave  me  alone,  for  Christ's 
sake!  It  won't  surprise  me  if  father  hears  us  and 
says  I  urged  you  on!  Oh,  Lord!  I  am  an  old 
woman,  I  wanted  to  rest  a  bit.  I  had  just  dozed  off 
and  then  he  comes  with  such  an  offer." 

"Very  well,  then.  I  am  going.  So  it's  impossible  ? 
Very  good.  Just  like  kinsiolk.  On  account  of  three 
thousand  rubles  your  grandson  will  go  to  Siberia. 
Don't  forget  to  have  a  Те  Deum  sung  when  I  go." 

Petenka  left  the  room,  closing  the  door  with  a  bang. 
One  of  his  flimsy  hopes  was  gone.  What  was  he  to 
do  next?  Only  one  way  out  was  left — to  confess  all 
to  father.  Who  knows,  perhaps,  perhaps,  something 
would 

"I'll  go  at  once  and  be  done  with  it,"  he  said  to 
himself.  "Or  no!  What  can  I  hope  for?  Better 
tomorrow.  Yes,  I  think  tomorrow  is  better.  I'll 
tell  him  and  leave  at  once."  So  he  decided.  Tomor- 
row would  see  and  end  it  all. 

After  the  talk  with  grandmother  the  evening 
dragged  on  still  more  slowly.  Even  Arina  Petrovna 
grew  silent  after  she  had  learned  the  real  cause  of 
Petenka's  arrival.  Yudushka  tried  to  be  jocular  with 
mother,  but  perceiving  she  was  absorbed  in  her  own 


196  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

thoughts,  also  grew  silent.  Petenka  did  nothing  but 
smoke.     At  supper  Porfiry  Vladimirych  asked  him : 

"Are  you  going  to  tell  me  at  last  why  you  have  hon- 
ored me  with  this  visit?" 

"I  will  tell  you  tomorrow,'*  answered  Petenka  mo- 
rosely. 


CHAPTER  V 

Petenka  rose  early  after  a  sleepless  night.  His 
harassed  mind  vacillated  between  hope  and  utter  des- 
pair. Perhaps  he  did  not  really  know  his  father, 
but  one  thing  he  was  sure  of,  that  there  was  not  in  him 
a  single  feeling,  a  single  weak  spot  that  could  be 
grasped  at  and  made  use  of.  When  face  to  face  with 
his  father,  all  he  felt  was  something  inexplicable. 
He  did  not  know  how  to  approach  him,  what  to  say 
first,  and  this  made  him  very  uneasy  in  his  presence. 
It  had  been  like  that  since  his  childhood.  As 
far  back  as  he  could  remember,  it  always  seemed 
better  not  to  attempt  any  forecast  at  all  than  to  make 
a  matter  depend  upon  his  father's  decision.  So  now, 
too.  How  was  he  to  begin?  How  was  he  to  ap- 
proach the  matter?  What  was  he  to  say  first?  And 
why  had  he  come  here  at  all  ? 

A  feeling  of  disgust  seized  him.  Nevertheless  he 
realized  he  had  only  a  few  hours  left  and  something 
had  to  be  done.  Having  worked  himself  up  into  a 
fair  state  of  courage,  he  buttoned  up  his  coat,  and 
walked  firmly  to  his  father's  study,  whispering  some- 
thing to  himself.  Yudushka  was  saying  prayers.  He 
was  pious,  and  every  day  gladly  devoted  a  few  hours 
to  prayer,  not  because  he  loved  God  and  hoped  through 
prayer  to  enter  into  communion  with  Him,  but  be- 
cause he  feared  the  devil  and  hoped  God  would  deliver 
him  from  the  Evil  One. 

197 


198  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

He  knew  many  prayers  and  was  especially  versed 
in  the  technique  of  the  poses  and  gestures  of  worship. 
He  knew  how  to  move  his  lips,  how  to  roll  his  eyes, 
when  it  was  proper  to  place  the  hands  palm  in- 
ward, and  when  they  were  to  be  lifted  up,  when  to 
be  moved  with  feeling,  and  when  to  stand  with  rev- 
erential calm  and  slowly  make  the  sign  of  the  cross. 
Even  his  eyes  and  his  nostrils  moistened  at  the 
proper  moments.  But  prayer  did  not  rejuvenate  him, 
did  not  ennoble  his  feelings,  or  bring  a  single  ray  into 
his  dull  existence.  He  could  pray  and  go  through  all 
the  requisite  bodily  movements,  and  at  the  same  time 
be  looking  out  of  the  window  to  see  if  someone  was 
entering  the  cellar  without  his  permission.  It  was 
quite  a  distinct,  particular  function  of  life,  which  was 
self-sufficient  and  could  exist  outside  of  the  general 
scheme  of  life. 

When  Petenka  entered  the  study,  Porfiry  Vladi- 
mirych  was  on  his  knees  with  his  hands  raised.  He 
did  not  change  his  position,  but  made  a  jerky  move- 
ment with  one  of  his  hands  to  indicate  that  he  had 
not  yet  finished.  Petenka  seated  himself  in  the  din- 
ing-room, where  the  table  was  already  set  for  tea, 
and  waited.  The  half  hour  that  passed  seemed  like 
eternity,  especially  as  he  was  sure  his  father  was 
prolonging  the  wait  intentionally.  The  studied  cool- 
ness with  which  he  had  armed  himself  little  by  little 
gave  way  to  vexation.  At  first  he  sat  stiff,  then  be- 
gan to  walk  to  and  fro,  and  finally  fell  to  whistling 
airs.  As  a  result,  the  door  of  the  study  opened,  and 
Yudushka's  irritated  voice  was  heard  calling: 

"Whoever  wants  to  whistle  may  do  so  in  the 
stables." 

After  a  while  Porfiry  Vladimirych  came  out  clad  all 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         199 

in  black,  in  clean  linen,  as  if  prepared  for  a  solemn 
occasion.  His  countenance  was  radiant,  glowing, 
breathing  meekness  and  joy,  as  if  he  had  just  been  at 
communion.  He  approached  his  son,  made  the  sign 
of  the  cross  over  him,  and  then  kissed  him. 

''Good  morning,  friend,"  he  said. 

''Good  morning." 

"Did  you  sleep  well?  Was  your  bed  made  prop- 
erly? Were  there  no  little  fleas  and  bedbugs  to 
bother  you?" 

"Thank  you.     I  slept  well." 

"Well,  thanks  to  God,  if  you  slept  well.  It's  only 
at  one's  parents'  home  that  one  can  sleep  really  well. 
I  know  it  from  my  own  experience.  No  matter  how 
comfortable  I  might  be  at  St.  Petersburg,  I  could 
never  sleep  so  well  as  at  Golovliovo.  You  feel  just 
as  if  you  were  rocked  in  a  cradle.  So  what  are  we 
going  to  do  ?  Shall  we  have  some  tea  first,  or  do  you 
want  to  say  something  now?" 

"Let's  talk  it  over  now.  I  have  to  leave  in  six 
hours,  and  maybe  we'll  need  some  time  for  delibera- 
tion." 

"Oh,  well.  But,  my  dear,  I  tell  you  directly,  I 
never  deliberate,  my  answer  is  always  ready.  If  your 
request  is  a  proper  one,  well,  I  never  refuse  anything 
proper.  It  may  be  hard  on  me  at  times,  and  I  can't 
always  afford  it,  but  if  it  is  proper,  I  can't  refuse  it. 
That's  the  kind  of  man  I  am.  But  if  you  ask  for 
something  that  isn't  right,  I  am  sorry.  Though  I 
feel  for  you,  I  shall  have  to  refuse.  You  observe,  my 
son,  I  have  no  underhand  ways.  I  am  exactly  as  you 
see  me.  Well,  then,  let's  go  into  the  study.  Speak 
and  I  will  listen.  Let's  hear,  let's  hear  what  the  mat- 
ter is." 


200  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

On  entering  the  study,  Porfiry  left  the  door  ajar 
and  instead  of  seating  himself  and  asking  his  son  to 
be  seated,  he  began  pacing  the  room,  as  if  instinctively 
feeling  that  the  matter  was  delicate  and  it  would  be 
easier  to  discuss  it  while  walking.  The  expression  of 
one's  face  may  be  more  easily  concealed,  and  if  the 
conversation  takes  a  disagreeable  turn  it  may  be  more 
readily  cut  off,  and  the  door  half  ajar  makes  it  pos- 
sible to  appeal  to  witnesses;  for  mother  dear  and 
Yevpraksia  were  sure  to  come  into  the  dining-room 
before  long  to  have  tea. 

"Papa,"  blurted  out  Petenka,  "I  lost  some  crown 
money  at  cards." 

Yudushka  said  nothing,  but  his  lips  quivered,  and 
he  immediately  fell  to  muttering,  as  was  his  habit. 

"I  lost  three  thousand,"  explained  Petenka,  "and 
if  I  don't  return  the  money  the  day  after  tomorrow, 
there  may  be  very  disagreeable  consequences  for  me." 

"Well,  refund  the  money,"  said  Porfiry  Vladimirych 
affably. 

Father  and  son  made  a  few  turns  around  the  room 
in  silence.  Petenka  washed  to  make  further  explana- 
tions, but  felt  a  lump  rising  in  his  throat. 

"Yes,  but  where  am  I  to  get  the  money  from?"  he 
said  at  last. 

"My  dear  friend,  I  don't  know  your  resources. 
Pay  it  back  from  the  resources  you  figured  on  when 
you  gambled  crown  money  away." 

"You  know  very  well  that  in  such  cases  people  for- 
get about  their  resources." 

"I  don't  know  a  thing,  my  friend.  I  never  played 
cards,  except  with  mother,  when  I  play  fool  to  amuse 
the  old  woman.  And  please  don't  drag  me  into  this 
dirty  business,  and  let's  go  and  have  tea.     We'll  have 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED        201 

tea  and  sit  around,  maybe  we'll  talk  about  something, 
but,  for  the  Lord's  sake,  not  about  that." 

Yudushka  started  to  make  for  the  door  and  into  the 
dining-room,  but  Petenka  stopped  him. 

"Look  here,"  he  said,  "I  have  to  get  out  of  this  pre- 
dicament somehow." 

Yudushka  grinned  and  stared  at  Petenka. 

"Yes,  my  dear,  you  have  to,"  he  agreed. 

"Then  help  me." 

"Ah,  that's  a  different  matter.  You  have  to  get  out 
of  the  difficulty  somehow,  to  be  sure,  but  how  to  get 
out  of  it — well,  that's  none  of  my  business." 

"But  why  don't  you  want  to  help  me?" 

"First,  because  I  have  no  money  to  cover  up  your 
dastardly  deeds,  and  secondly  because  the  entire  mat- 
ter does  not  concern  me  in  the  least.  You  knew  how 
to  get  in,  then  know  how  to  get  out.  The  cat  likes 
fish,  then  let  her  wet  her  feet.  You  see,  my  boy, 
that's  just  what  I  said  at  the  start,  that  if  your  re- 
quest is  a  proper  one " 

"I  know.  You've  got  a  lot  of  words  on  the  tip  of 
your  tongue." 

"Wait,  save  your  impudent  remarks,  and  let  me  say 
what  I  wish  to  say.  That  they  are  not  mere  words 
I'll  prove  to  you  in  a  minute.  So,  as  I  said  a  while 
ago,  if  your  request  is  a  proper,  a  sensible  one,  all 
right,  my  boy.  I  am  always  ready  to  satisfy  you. 
But  if  you  come  to  me  with  an  unreasonable  request, 
I  am  very  sorry,  I  have  no  money  for  stuff  and  non- 
sense. No  sir,  never.  And  you  won't  get  any — you 
may  as  well  be  sure  of  it.  And  don't  dare  tell  me  I 
use  mere  words.     My  words  are  mighty  near  deeds." 

"But  think  what  will  become  of  me." 

"Whatever    pleases    God,    that    will    happen."    an- 


202  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

swered  Yudushka,  slightly  lifting  up  his  arms  and 
looking  sideways  at  the  ikon. 

Father  and  son  again  made  a  few  turns  across  the 
room.  Yudushka  paced  reluctantly,  as  if  in  complaint 
that  his  son  was  holding  him  in  captivity.  Petenka, 
his  arms  akimbo,  followed  him,  biting  his  moustache 
and  smiling  nervously. 

"I  am  your  last  son,"  he  said.     "Don't  forget  that." 

''My  boy,  God  bereft  Job  of  everything,  and  Job 
did  not  complain,  but  only  said :  'God  hath  given  and 
God  hath  taken  away — may  thy  will  be  done,  oh, 
Lord!'     So,  my  boy." 

"In  the  Bible  it  was  God  that  took,  and  here  you 
take  away  from  yourself.     Volodya " 

"Oh,  well,  you  are  talking  nonsense." 

"No,  it  isn't  nonsense,  it's  the  truth.  Everybody 
knows  that  Volodya " 

"No,  no,  no!  I  don't  want  to  listen  to  your  pre- 
posterous remarks.  Enough !  You've  said  everything 
necessary.  I  have  given  you  my  answer.  And  now 
let's  go  and  have  tea.  We'll  chat  a  while,  then  we'll 
have  a  bite,  then  a  drink  before  you  go — and  then 
God  speed  you!  You  see  how  good  the  Lord  is  to 
you?  The  weather  has  abated  and  the  road  become 
smoother.  Little  by  little,  bit  by  bit,  one,  two,  and 
you'll  hardly  notice  when  you  get  to  the  station." 

"Now,  listen,  I  implore  you.  If  you  have  a  drop 
of  feeling " 

"No,  no,  no!  Don't  let  us  talk  about  it.  Let's  go 
into  the  dining-room.  I  dare  say  mother  dear  must 
be  dull  without  her  tea.  It  isn't  proper  to  keep  the 
dear  old  woman  waiting." 

Yudushka  made  a  sharp  turn  and  almost  ran  to 
the  door. 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED        203 

"You  may  go  or  not,  it's  all  the  same  to  me,  but 
I  am  not  going  to  drop  this  conversation,"  Petenka 
shouted  after  him.  "It  will  be  worse  if  we  begin  talk- 
ing in  the  presence  of  witnesses." 

Yudushka  came  back  and  planted  himself  squarely 
before  his  son. 

"What  do  you  want  of  me,  you  scoundrel?  Speak 
up!" 

"I  want  you  to  pay  the  money  that  I  lost." 

"Never!" 

"Is  that  your  last  word  ?" 

"You  see,"  exclaimed  Yudushka  solemnly,  pointing 
at  the  ikon  that  hung  in  the  corner,  "You  see  that? 
It  is  grandfather's  benediction.  So,  in  the  presence 
of  that  image  I  say,  Never !" 

And  with  a  firm  step  he  left  the  study. 

"Murderer!"  was  hurled  after  him. 


CHAPTER  VI 

Arina  Petrovna  was  already  at  the  table,  and 
Yevpraksia  was  busy  arranging  the  tea  things.  The 
old  woman  was  silent  and  thoughtful,  and  looked  as 
if  she  were  ashamed  of  Petenka.  In  the  customary 
way  Yudushka  kissed  her  hand,  and  she  made  the 
sign  of  the  cross  over  him.  Then  came  the  usual 
questions,  whether  everybody  felt  well,  and  had  had  a 
good  night's  rest,  followed  by  the  customary  mono- 
syllabic answers.  Petenka's  asking  Arina  Petrovna 
for  money  and  awakening  the  memory  of  the  "curse" 
had  put  her  into  a  state  of  peculiar  uneasiness.  She 
was  pursued  by  the  thought,  "What  if  I  threaten  him 
with  my  curse?"  When  she  had  heard  that  explana- 
tions in  the  study  had  begun,  she  had  turned  to  Yev- 
praksia with  the  request: 

"Suppose,  my  dear,  you  go  to  the  door  quietly  and 
listen  to  what  they  say." 

Yevpraksia  went  to  eavesdrop,  but  was  so  stupid 
she  could  understand  nothing. 

"Oh,  they're  just  having  a  chat,"  she  explained  upon 
her  return. 

Then  Arina  Petrovna  could  not  hold  out  any  longer 
and  went  to  the  dining-room,  where  the  samovar  had 
already  been  brought  in.  But  the  interview  was  near- 
ing  its  end,  and  all  she  noted  was  that  Petenka's  voice 
was  loud  and  angry,  and  Porfiry  Vladimirych's  replies 
were  given  in  a  nagging  voice. 

204 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         205 

"He's  nagging  him,  that  just  it,  nagging!"  ran  in 
her  head.  "I  remember  he  used  to  nag  that  way,  and 
how  is  it  I  did  not  understand  him  then?" 

At  last,  father  and  son  appeared  in  the  dining-room. 
Petenka's  face  was  red  and  he  was  breathing  heavily. 
His  eyes  were  staring  widely,  his  hair  was  disheveled, 
his  forehead  was  covered  with  beads  of  perspiration. 
Yudushka,  on  the  contrary,  entered  pale  and  cross. 
He  wanted  to  appear  indifferent  but,  in  spite  of  all  his 
efforts,  his  lower  lip  trembled.  He  could  hardly  utter 
the  customary  morning  greetings  to  his  mother  dear. 

All  took  their  places  at  the  table.  Petenka  seated 
himself  at  some  distance,  leaned  against  the  back  of 
his  chair,  crossed  his  legs,  lighted  a  cigarette,  and 
looked  at  his  father  ironically. 

"You  see,  mother,  the  storm  has  abated,"  Yudushka 
began.  "Yesterday  there  was  such  an  uproar,  but  God 
only  had  to  will  it,  and  here  we  have  a  nice,  bright^ 
quiet  day.     Am  I  right,  mother  dear?" 

"I  don't  know.     I  haven't  been  out  to-day." 

"By  the  way,  we  are  going  to  see  our  dear  guest 
off,"  continued  Yudushka.  "I  rose  early  this  morn- 
ing, looked  out  of  the  window — it  was  still  and  quiet 
outdoors,  as  if  God's  angel  had  flown  by  and  in  a 
moment  allayed  the  riot  with  his  wings." 

But  no  one  answered  Yudushka's  kindly  words. 
Yevpraksia  sipped  her  tea  from  the  saucer,  blowing 
and  puffing.  Arina  Petrovna  looked  into  her  cup  and 
was  silent.  Petenka^  swaying  in  his  chair,  continued 
to  eye  his  father  with  an  ironical,  defiant  air,  as  if  he 
had  to  exert  great  efforts  to  keep  from  bursting  out 
laughing. 

"Even  if  Petenka  does  not  ride  fast,  he  will  reach 
the  railway  station  toward  night,"  Porfiry  Vladimirvch 


2o6  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

resumed.  ''Our  horses  are  not  overworked.  They 
will  feed  for  a  couple  of  hours  at  Muravyevo,  and 
they  will  get  him  to  the  place  in  a  jiffy.  Ah,  Petka, 
you  are  a  bad  boy !  Suppose  you  stay  with  us  a  while 
longer — really.  We  would  enjoy  your  company,  and 
you  would  improve  greatly  in  a  week." 

But  Petenka  continued  to  sway  in  his  chair  and  eye 
his  father. 

''Why  do  you  stare  at  me?"  Yudushka  flared  up  at 
last.     "Do  you  see  pictures  on  me?" 

"I'm  just  looking  at  you  waiting  for  what's  coming 
next." 

"No  use  waiting,  my  son.  It  will  be  as  I  said.  I 
will  not  change  my  mind." 

A  minute  of  silence  followed,  after  which  a  whis- 
per could  be  distinctly  heard. 

"Yudushka !" 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  undoubtedly  heard  it,  he  even 
turned  pale,  but  he  pretended  the  exclamation  did  not 
concern  him. 

"Ah,  my  dear  little  children,"  he  said.  "I  should 
like  to  caress  and  fondle  you,  but  it  seems  it  can't  be 
done — ill  luck !  You  run  aw^ay  from  your  parents, 
you've  got  bosom  friends  who  are  dearer  to  you  than 
father  and  mother.  Well,  it  can't  be  helped.  One 
ponders  a  bit  over  it,  then  resigns  oneself.  You  are 
young  folk,  and  youth,  of  course,  prefers  the  com- 
pany of  youth  to  that  of  an  old  grouch.  So,  I  resign 
myself  and  don't  complain.  I  only  pray  to  Our 
Father  in  Heaven,  'Do  Thy  will,  oh  Lord !'  " 

"Murderer!"  Petenka  whispered,  but  this  time  so 
distinctly  that  Arina  Petrovna  looked  at  him  in  fright. 
Something  passed  before  her  eyes.  It  looked  like  the 
shadow  of  Simple  Simon. 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         207 

"Whom  do  you  mean?"  asked  Yudushka,  trembling 
with  excitement. 

"Oh,  just  an  acquaintance  of  mine." 

"I  see.  Well,  you'd  better  make  that  clear.  Lord 
knows  what's  in  your  head.  Maybe  it  is  one  of  us 
that  you  style  so." 

Everybody  became  silent.  The  glasses  of  tea  re- 
mained untouched.  Yudushka  leaned  against  the  back 
of  his  chair,  swaying  nervously.  Petenka,  seeing  that 
all  hope  was  gone,  had  a  sensation  of  deadly  anguish, 
under  the  influence  of  Avhich  he  was  ready  to  go  to 
any  lengths.  But  father  and  son  looked  at  each  other 
with  an  indescribable  smile.  Hardened  though  Por- 
firy  Vladimirych  was,  the  minute  was  nearing  when 
he  would  be  unable  to  control  himself. 

"You'd  better  go,  w^hile  the  going's  good,"  he  burst 
out,  finally.     "You  better  had." 

"I'm  going." 

"Then  why  wait?  I  see  you're  trying  to  pick  a 
quarrel,  and  I  don't  want  to  quarrel  with  anybody. 
We  live  here  quietly  and  in  good  order,  without  dis- 
putes. Your  old  grandmother  is  here.  You  ought 
to  have  regard  for  her  at  least.  Well,  tell  us  why  you 
came  here?" 

"I  told  you  why." 

"If  it's  only  for  that,  you  are  wasting  your  efforts. 
Go  at  once,  my  son.  Hey,  who's  there?  Have  the 
horses  ready  for  the  young  master.  And  some  fried 
chicken,  and  caviar,  and  other  things,  eggs,  I  suppose. 
Wrap  them  up  well  in  paper.  You'll  take  a  bite  at  the 
station,  my  son,  while  they  feed  the  horses.  God- 
speed !" 

"No,  I  am  not  going  yet.     Гт  going  to  church  first 


2o8  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

to  have  a  memorial  service  performed  for  the  mur-^ 
dered  servant  of  God,  Vladimir." 

"That  is,  for  the  suicide." 

"No,  for  the  murdered." 

Father  and  son  stared  at  each  other.  It  looked  as 
if  in  a  moment  both  would  jump  up.  But  Yudushka 
made  a  superhu  nan  effort  and,  turning  his  chair,  faced 
the  table  again. 

"Wonderful!"  he  said  in  a  strained  voice.  "Won- 
derful!" 

"Yes,  for  the  murdered  I"  Petenka  persisted  brutally. 

"Who  murdered  him?"  Yudushka  asked  with  cu- 
riosity, still  hoping,  apparently,  that  his  son  would 
come  to  his  senses. 

But  Petenka,  unperturbed,  whipped  out: 

"You!" 

"I  ?" 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  astounded.  It  was  a  few 
moments  before  he  came  to  himself.  He  rose  hastily 
from  his  seat,  faced  the  ikon  and  began  to  pray. 

"You,  you,  you!"  Petenka  repeated. 

"Well,  now!  Thank  God,  I  feel  better  after  pray- 
ing," said  Yudushka,  seating  himself  at  table  again. 
"Just  a  minute,  though.  I,  as  your  father,  should  not 
take  you  up  on  your  talk,  but  we'll  pursue  the  matter 
this  time.  Then  you  mean  to  say  that  I  killed  Volo- 
denka?" 

"Yes,  you  did." 

"And  I  beg  leave  to  differ.  I  consider  he  shot  him- 
self. At  that  time  I  was  at  Golovliovo  and  in  St. 
Petersburg.  So  what  could  I  have  to  do  with  it? 
How  could  I  kill  him  when  he  was  seven  hundred 
versts  away?" 

"As  if  you  don't  understand !" 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED        209 

"I  don't  understand,  by  the  Lord,  I  don4 !" 

"And  who  left  Volodya  without  a  penny?  Who 
discontinued  his  allowances?     Who?'' 

"Stuff  and  nonsense!  Why  did  he  marry  against 
his  father's  will  ?" 

"But  you  gave  him  your  permission." 

"Who  ?  I  ?  What  are  you  talking  about  ?  I  never 
did  anything  of  the  kind.     Nev-v-v-er!" 

"Oh,  of  course,  you  acted  as  you  always  do.  Every- 
one of  your  words  has  ten  meanings.  Go,  guess  the 
right  one." 

"I  never  gave  my  permission.  He  wrote  to  me, 
Фара,  I  want  to  marry  Lida,'  you  understand,  *I 
want  to,'  not  *I  beg  your  permission.'  Well,  I  an- 
swered him,  *If  you  want  to  marry,  you  can  marry. 
I  cannot  stand  in  your  way.'  That's  all  there  was 
to  it." 

"That's  all  there  was  to  it,"  Petenka  said  jeeringly. 
"And  wasn't  that  giving  your  permission?" 

"That's  exactly  what  it  wasn't.  What  did  I  say? 
I  said,  T  cannot  stand  in  your  way.'  That's  all.  But 
whether  I  give  my  permission  or  not,  is  a  different 
question.  He  did  not  ask  my  permission,  he  simply 
wrote,  Тара,  I  want  to  marry  Lida.'  Well,  and  as 
to  permission  he  kept  mum.  You  want  to  marry. 
Well,  my  friend,  may  God  be  with  you,  marry  Lida 
or  Fida,  I  cannot  stand  in  your  way !" 

"But  you  could  leave  him  without  a  crust  of  bread. 
So  why  didn't  you  write  this  way,  T  do  not  approve 
of  your  intention,  and  therefore,  though  I  will  not 
hinder  you,  I  warn  you  that  you  can  not  longer  rely 
on  financial  aid  from  me.'  That,  at  least,  would  have 
been  clear." 

"No,  I  shall  never  permit  myself  to  do  such  things. 


210  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

to  make  threats  against  a  grown  son — never!  I  have 
a  rule  never  to  be  in  anybody's  way.  If  you  want  to 
marry — marry!  Well,  and  as  to  consequences — I  am 
sorry.  It  was  your  business  to  foresee  them  yourself. 
That's  why  God  gave  you  reason.  And  as  to  me, 
brother,  I  don't  like  to  thrust  myself  into  other  peo- 
ple's affairs.  I  not  only  keep  from  meddling  myself, 
but  I  don't  invite  others  to  meddle  in  my  affairs,  I 
don't  invite  it,  I  don't,  I  don't,  I  even  forbid  it! 
Do  you  hear  me,  you  wicked,  disrespectful  son,  I 
f-o-r-b-i-dit!" 

"You  may  forbid  it,  if  you  like,  but  you  can't  muzzle 
everybody." 

"If  at  least  he  had  repented!  And  if  at  least  he 
had  realized  that  he  offended  his  father!  Well,  you 
committed  a  folly — say  you  are  sorry.  Ask  forgive- 
ness !  'Forgive  me,  dear  papa,  for  the  mortification 
I  caused  you.'     But  he  wouldn't !" 

"But  he  did  write  to  you.  He  made  it  clear  to  you 
that  he  had  nothing  to  live  on,  that  he  could  not  en- 
dure it  any  longer." 

"That's  not  the  kind  of  thing  to  write  to  a  father. 
From  a  father  one  asks  pardon,  that's  all." 

"He  did  so.  He  was  so  tortured  that  he  begged 
forgiveness,  too.     He  did  everything,  he  did." 

"And  even  if  he  did,  he  was  wrong.  You  ask  for- 
giveness once,  you  see  your  father  does  not  forgive 
you,  you  ask  again!" 

"Oh,  you!" 

At  this  Petenka  suddenly  ceased  swaying  his  chair, 
turned  about,  faced  the  table  and  rested  both  elbows 
on  it. 

"And  here  I,  too "  he  w^hispered. 

His  face  gradually  became  disfigured. 


FAMILY  ACCOUNTS  SETTLED         211 

"And  here  I  too "  he  repeated,  and  burst  into 

hysterical  sobbing. 

"Whose  fault " 

But  Yudushka  had  no  chance  to  finish  his  sermon. 
At  that  moment  something  quite  unexpected  took 
place.  During  their  skirmish  the  man  had  almost  for- 
gotten about  Arina  Petrovna.  But  she  had  not  re- 
mained an  indifferent  spectator.  On  the  contrary, 
you  could  tell  at  a  glance  that  something  quite  unusual 
was  taking  place  within  her,  and  that  the  moment 
perhaps  had  arrived  when  the  ruthless  vision  of  her  l 
entire  life  appeared  before  her  spiritual  eye  in  a  glar-  | 
ing  light.  Her  face  livened  up,  her  ejy^a-jwidened  and 
glittered,  her  lips  moved  as  if  they  were  struggling  to 
utteFsome  word  and  could  not.  Suddenly,  just  at  the 
moment  when  Petenka's  bitter  weeping  resounded  in 
the  dining-room  she  rose  heavily  from  her  arm-chair, 
stretched  her  arms  forward,  and  a  loud  wail  broke  out 
from  her  breast. 

"My  cu-r-r-se  upon  you!" 


BOOK  IV 
THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE 


CHAPTER  I 

YuDUSHKA  did  not  give  the  money  to  Petenka, 
though,  kind  father  that  he  was,  he  gave  orders  just 
before  the  moment  of  departure  for  some  chicken, 
veal  and  pie  to  be  placed  in  the  carriage.  Then  he 
went  out  on  the  porch  in  the  chilling  wind  to  see  his 
son  off,  and  inquired  whether  Petenka  was  seated  com- 
fortably and  whether  he  had  wrapped  his  feet  up  well. 
Re-entering  the  house,  he  stood  at  the  window  in  the 
dining-room  a  long  time  making  the  sign  of  the  cross 
and  sending  his  blessings  after  the  vehicle  that  was 
carrying  Petenka  away.  In  a  word,  he  performed  the 
farewell  ceremony  fittingly,  as  becomes  good  kins- 
folk. 

"Oh,  Petka,  Petka,"  he  said,  "you  are  a  bad,  bad 
son.  Look  at  the  mischief  you  have  done.  My,  my, 
my !  And  what  could  have  been  better  than  to  live  on 
quietly  and  peacefully,  nicely  and  easily  with  father 
and  old  granny?  But  no!  Crash!  Bang!  I  am  my 
own  master,  I've  got  a  head  on  my  shoulders,  too! 
Well,  there's  your  head!     My,  what  trouble!" 

Not  a  muscle  quivered  in  his  wooden  face,  not  a  note 
in  his  voice  sounded  like  an  appeal  to  a  prodigal  son. 
But,  then,  there  was  nobody  to  hear  his  words,  for 
Arina  Petrovna  was  the  only  one  beside  himself  in  the 
room,  and  as  a  result  of  the  shock  she  had  just  gone 
through  she  seemed  to  have  lost  all  vitality,  and  sat 

215 


2i6  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

near  the  samovar,  her  mouth  open,  looking  straight 
ahead,  without  hearing  anything,  without  a  single 
thought  in  her  mind. 

Then  life  flowed  on  as  usual,  full  of  idle  bustle  and 
babbling.  Contrary  to  Petenka's  expectations,  Por- 
firy  Vladimirych  took  the  maternal  curse  quite  coolly 
and  did  not  recede  a  hair's  breadth  from  the  decision 
that  had  come  from  his  head  full-formed,  as  it  were. 

It  is  true  he  turned  slightly  pale  and  rushed  toward 
his  mother  with  a  cry : 

"Mother,  dear!  Darling!  Lord  be  with  you!  Be 
•calm,  dear!    God  is  merciful.    All  will  be  well." 

But  his  words  were  expressive  of  alarm  for  her 
rather  than  for  himself.  Her  act  had  been  so  unex- 
pected that  Yudushka  even  forgot  to  pretend  to  be 
frightened.  Only  last  night  his  mother  had  been  affec- 
tionate, had  jested,  and  played  fool  with  Yevpraksia. 
Evidently,  then,  it  had  all  happened  in  a  moment  of 
sudden  anger,  and  there  was  nothing  premeditated, 
nothing  real  about  it  all. 

Indeed,  he  had  been  very  much  afraid  of  his  moth- 
er's curse  but  he  had  pictured  it  quite  differently.     In 
>  his  idle  mind  he  had  built  an  elaborate  staging  for  the 

occasion,  ikons,  burning  candles,  his  mother  standing 
/  in  the  center  of  the  room,  terrible,  with  a  darkened 

face  as  she  hurled  the  curse.     Then,  thunder,  candles 
going  out,  the  veil  tearing  asunder,  darkness  covering 
the  earth,  and  above,  amidst  the  clouds  the  wrathful 
countenance  of  Jehovah  illumined  by  a  flash  of  light- 
ning.    But  nothing  of  the  sort  had  happened,  so  his 
mother  had  simply  done  something  rash  and   silly. 
I      аД  And  she  had  had  no  reason  to  curse  him  in  earnest, 
1 1!  because  of  late  there  had  been  no  cause  for  quarreling. 
I     Many  changes  had  occurred  since  Yudushka  expressed 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  217 

his  doubt  as  to  whether  a  certain  coach  belonged  to  his 
mother  dear  (Yudushka  admitted  to  himself  that 
then  he  had  been  wrong  and  deserved  damnation). 
Arina  Petrovna  had  become  more  submissive,  and  Por- 
firy  Vladimirych  had  but  one  thought  in  his  head :  how 
to  placate  his  mother  dear. 

**The  old  woman  is  doing  poorly,  my,  how  poorly! 
At  times  she  even  raves,"  he  consoled  himself.  "The 
darling  sits  down  to  play  fool  and  before  you  know 
it,  she  dozes  off." 

In  justice  to  Yudushka  it  must  be  admitted  that  his 
mother's  decrepitude  gave  him  some  alarm.  Even  he 
was  not  quite  ready  for  her  death,  had  not  made  any 
plans,  had  had  no  time  to  make  estimates — ^how  much 
capital  mother  had  when  she  left  Dubrovino,  what  that 
capital  might  bring  in  annually,  how  much  of  the  in- 
terest she  had  spent,  and  how  much  she  had  added  to 
the  principal.  In  a  word,  he  had  not  gone  through  an 
infinity  of  useless  trifles,  without  which  he  always 
felt  as  if  he  were  caught  unawares. 

"The  old  woman  is  hale  and  hearty,"  he  would  muse 
at  times.  "Still  she  won't  spend  it  all — impossible. 
When  she  shared  us  out,  she  had  a  neat  sum.  Maybe 
she  transferred  some  to  the  orphans.  Oh,  the  old 
woman  is  rich.    Yes,  she  is." 

But  these  musings  were  not  so  very  serious,  and 
vanished  without  leaving  an  impress  on  his  mind. 
The  mass  of  daily  trivialities  was  already  great,  and 
there  was  as  yet  no  urgent  need  to  augment  them  by 
the  addition  of  new  trivialities.  Porfiry  Vladimirych 
kept  putting  the  matter  off,  and  did  not  realize  it  was 
time  to  begin  until  after  the  damnation  scene. 

The  catastrophe  came  sooner  than  he  expected.  On 
the  second  day  after  Petenka's  departure  Arina  Pe- 


2i8  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

trovna  left  for  Pogorelka,  and  never  again  visited  Gol- 
ovliovo.  She  spent  a  month  in  total  solitude,  keeping 
to  her  room  and  scarcely  exchanging  a  word  with  her 
servants.  From  force  of  habit  she  rose  early  in  the 
morning,  sat  down  at  her  desk,  and  began  to  play 
patience,  but  hardly  ever  brought  the  game  to  an  end, 
and  sat  in  frozen  rigidity — with  her  glazed  eyes  fixed 
on  the  window.  What  she  thought  about  or  whether 
she  thought  at  all,  even  the  keenest  judge  of  the  deep- 
lying  mysteries  of  the  human  soul  could  not  have 
divined.  She  seemed  to  be  trying  to  recollect  some- 
thing, perhaps  how  she  came  to  be  within  those  walls, 
and  could  not.  Alarmed  by  her  mistress's  silence,  Afi- 
myushka  would  appear  in  the  room,  arrange  the 
pillows  lining  her  easy-chair,  and  try  to  open  a  con- 
versation on  this  or  that,  but  received  only  impatient 
monosyllabic  replies. 

Once  or  twice  Porfiry  Vladimirych  came  to  Pogo- 
relka, invited  mother  dear  to  Golovliovo,  tried  to  kindle 
her  imagination  with  the  prospect  of  mushrooms,  Ger- 
man carp,  and  the  other  allurements  of  Golovliovo,  but 
his  overtures  evoked  nothing  but  an  enigmatic 
smile. 

One  morning  she  tried  to  leave  her  bed  as  usual,  but 
could  not,  though  she  felt  no  particular  pain,  and  com- 
plained of  nothing.  She  took  it,  apparently,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  without  any  sign  of  alarm.  The  very 
day  before  she  had  been  sitting  at  the  table  and  even 
walked,  though  with  difficulty,  and  now  she  \vas  in 
bed  ^'feeling  indisposed."  It  w^as  even  ^re  comfort- 
able. But  Afimyushka  became  thorou^'i-i^  frightened 
and  without  the  mistress's  knowledge  ^uic  ^  messenger 
to  Porfiry  Vladimirych. 

Yudushka  came  early  the  next  morning.    Arina  Pe- 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  219 

trovna  was  considerably  worse.  He  put  the  servants 
through  a  cross-examination  as  to  what  mother  had 
eaten  and  whether  she  had  not  overeaten.  But  Arina 
Petrovna  had  eaten  almost  nothing  for  a  whole  month, 
and  had  refused  all  food  the  previous  day.  Yudushka 
expressed  his  grief,  \vaved  his  hands,  and  like  a  good 
son,  warmed  himself  at  the  oven  in  the  maids'  room  so 
that  he  would  not  bring  the  cold  into  the  patient's 
room.  At  the  same  time  he  began  to  give  orders  and 
make  arrangements.  He  had  an  extraordinary  keen- 
ness for  scenting  death.  He  made  inquiries  as  to 
whether  the  priest  was  home  and  arranged  that  in  case 
of  emergency  he  should  be  sent  for  at  once.  He  in- 
formed himself  where  mother's  chest  with  her  papers 
was,  whether  it  w^as  locked,  and  having  satisfied  him- 
self concerning  the  state  of  things,  he  called  in  the 
cook  and  ordered  dinner  for  himself. 

'T  need  but  little,"  he  said.  ^^Have  you  got  a 
chicken?  Well,  prepare  some  chicken  soup.  If  you 
have  some  cured  beef,  get  a  bit  of  cured  beef  ready. 
Then  something  fried,  and  I'll  have  enough." 

Arina  Petrovna  lay  prostrate  on  her  back  with  her 
mouth  open,  breathing  heavily.  Her  eyes  w^ere  star- 
ing wide.  One  hand  projected  from  under  the  quilt 
of  hare's  fur  and  hung  stiff.  She  was  evidently  alive 
to  the  commotion  incident  upon  her  son's  arrival,  and 
perhaps  his  orders  everPr^^rhed  her  ears.  The  low- 
ered window-shades  put  the  room  in  twilight.  The 
wicks  were  flickering  their  last  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ikon  lamps  V^'^d  sputtered  audibly  at  contact  with  the 
water.  T".  '  '■  was  close  and  fetid,  unbearably  suf- 
focating f ri  ': '  he  overheated  stoves,  the  sickening 
smell  of  the  ikon  lamps,  and  the  breath  of  illness.  Por- 
firy  Vladimirych,  in  his  felt  boots,  glided  to  his  moth- 


220  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

er's  bed  Шсе-л.^8д^се.  His  tall,  lean  figure  wrapped 
in  twilight  swayea  uncannily.  Arina  Petrovna  with 
a  look  half  of  surpris€anT  half  of  fright  followed 
his  movements  and  huddled  under  her  quilt. 

"It  is  I,  mother  dear,"  he  said.  ''What's  the  mat- 
ter with  you?  You  are  all  out  of  gear  today.  My, 
my,  my!  No  wonder  I  could  not  sleep  all  night. 
Something  seemed  to  urge  me  on.  'Let's  go  and  see,' 
I  thought,  'how  our  Pogorelka  friends  are  getting 
along.'  I  got  up  in  the  morning,  hitched  a  couple  of 
horses  to  the  pony  cart,  and  here  I  am !" 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  tittered  affably,  but  Arina  Pe- 
trovna did  not  answer,  and  drew  herself  together  in  a 
closer  coil  under  her  quilt. 

"Well,  God  is  merciful,  mother  dear,"  continued 
Yudushka.  "The  main  thing  is  to  stand  up  for  your- 
self. Don't  put  any  stock  in  the  ailment.  Get  up  and 
take  a  walk  through  the  room,  like  a  sound,  hale  per- 
son.   You  see,  just  like  this." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  rose  from  his  seat  and  dem- 
onstrated how  sound,  hale  persons  walk. 

"Oh,  just  a  moment.  I'll  raise  the  window-shade 
and  take  a  good  look  at  you.  Oh,  but  you  are  first 
rate,  my  darling.  Just  pluck  up  some  courage,  say 
your  prayers,  doll  up,  get  into  your  Sunday  best,  and 
you'll  be  ready  for  a  dance.  There,  I  have  brought 
you  some  jolly  good  holy  water,  just  taste  some." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  took  a  flask  out  of  his  pocket, 
found  a  wine  glass  on  the  table,  filled  it  and  gave  it  to 
the  patient.  Arina  Petrovna  made  an  effort  to  lift  her 
head,  but  in  vain. 

"I  wish  the  orphans  were  here,"  she  moaned. 

"Well,  much  need  you  have  of  the  orphans  here. 
Oh,  mother,  mother !    How  is  it  all  of  a  sudden  you — 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  22  г 

really!  Just  a  little  bad  turn,  and  at  once  you  are 
ready  to  give  up  the  ship.  We'll  attend  to  it  all.  We'll 
send  a  special  messenger  to  the  orphans  and  we'll  do- 
everything  else  in  due  time.  Now,  what's  the  hurry, 
really?  We  are  going  to  live  yet,  yes  indeed  we  are. 
And  we*ll  have  a  fine  time  of  it,  too.  Wait  till  sum- 
mer is  here,  we'll  both  of  us  go  to  the  woods  to  pick 
mushrooms,  and  raspberries,  and  nice  juicy  black  cur- 
rants. Or  else,  we'll  go  to  Dubrovino  to  catch  Ger- 
man carps.  We'll  bring  out  the  horse  and  carriage,  get 
into  it,  and  one,  two,  three — there  we  go.  Nicely  and 
easily.'* 

"I  wish  the  orphans  were  here,"  repeated  Arina 
Petrovna  in  anguish. 

"We'll  bring  the  orphans,  too.  Give  us  time.  We'll 
call  them  together,  all  of  them.  We'll  all  be  here  and 
sit  by  you.  You  will  be  the  brood-hen  and  we'll  be 
your  chicks.  We'll  have  it  all,  if  you  behave.  Now 
you  are  a  naughty  girl,  because  you  went  and  took 
sick.  That's  the  kind  of  mischief  you're  up  to.  My, 
my!  Instead  of  being  good  and  serving  as  an  ex- 
ample for  others,  look  what  you're  doing.  That's  bad, 
my  dear,  very  bad." 

But  no  matter  how  hard  Porfiry  Vladimirych 
tried  to  cheer  up  his  mother  dear  with  banter,  her 
strength  waned  from  hour  to  hour.  A  messenger  was 
dispatched"  to  town  to  fetch  a  doctor,  and  since  the 
patient  persisted  in  moaning  and  calling  the  orphans, 
Yudushka  in  his  own  hand  wrote  a  letter  to  Anninka 
and  Lubinka  in  which  he  compared  his  and  their  con- 
duct, called  himself  a  Christian  and  them  ungrate- 
ful. At  night  the  doctor  arrived,  but  it  was  too  late. 
Arina  Petrovna's  fate  was  sealed.  At  about  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning  the  death  agony  set  in  and  at 


222  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

six  Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  kneeling  at  his  mother's 
bed  wailing: 

"Mother  dear!  My  friend!  Give  me  your  bless- 
ing!" 

But  Arina  Petrovna  did  not  hear  him.  Her  wide- 
open  eyes  stared  dimly  into  space  as  if  she  were  trying 
to  understand  something  and  could  not. 

Yudushka,  too,  did  not  understand.  He  did  not  un- 
derstand that  the_yawning  grave  was  to  carry  off  the 
last  creature  that  linkedTum  to  the  living  world. 

With  his  usual  bustle  he  delved  into  the  mass  of 
trifles  and  details  that  were  ,incident_upon  the  cere- 
monial of  burial.  He  had  requiems  chanted,  ordered 
memorial  masses  for  the  future,  discussed  matters 
with  the  priest,  hurried  from  room  to  room  with  his 
shambling  gait.  Every  now  and  then  he  peeped  into 
the  dining-room  where  the  deceased  lay,  crossed  him- 
self, lifted  his  hands  heavenward,  and  late  at  night 
stole  quietly  to  the  door  to  listen  to  the  sexton's  mo- 
notonous reading  of  the  Psalms.  He  was  pleasantly 
surprised  that  his  expenses  upon  the  occasions  would 
be  very  slight,  for  Arina  Petrovna  l^ng  before  her 
death  had  put  away  a  sum  of  money  for  her  burial 
and  itemized  in  detail  the  various  expenditures. 

Having  buried  his  mother,  Porfiry  Vladimirych  at 
once  began  to  familiarize  himself  with  her  effects. 
Examining  the  papers  he  found  about  a  dozen  various 
wills  (in  one  of  them  she  called  him  "undutiful")  ;  but 
all  of  them  had  been  written  when  Arina  Petrovna 
was  still  the  domineering,  despotic  mistress,  and  were 
incomplete — in  the  form  of  tentative  drafts. 

So  Yudushka  was  quite  pleased  that  he  had  no  need 
to  play  foul  in  order  to  declare  himself  the  sole  legiti- 
mate heir  to  his  mother's  property.     The  latter  con- 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  223 

sisted  of  a  capital  of  fifteen  thousand  rubles  and  of 
a  scanty  movable  estate  which  included  the  famous 
coach  that  had  nearly  become  the  cause  of  dissension 
between  mother  and  son.  Arina  Petrovna  kept  her 
own  accounts  quite  separate  and  distinct  from  those 
of  her  wards,  so  that  one  could  see  at  a  glance  what 
belonged  to  her  and  what  to  the  orphans.  Yudushka 
lost  no  time  in  declaring  himself  heir  at  the  proper 
legal  places.  He  sealed  the  papers  bearing  on  the 
guardianship,  gave  the  servants  his  mother's  scanty 
wardrobe,  and  sent  the  coach  and  two  cows  to  Golov- 
liovo,  which  were  placed  in  the  inventory  under  the 
heading  *'mine."  Then  he  had  the  last  requiem  per- 
formed and  went  his  way. 

"Wait  for  the  owners,"  he  told  the  people  gathered 
in  the  hallway  to  see  him  off.  "If  they  come,  they'll 
be  welcome;  if  they  don't — just  as  they  please.  For 
my  part,  I  did  all  I  could.  I  straightened  out  the 
guardianship  accounts  and  hid  nothing.  Everything 
was  done  in  plain  view,  in  front  of  everybody.  The 
money  that  mother  left  belongs  to  me  legally.  The 
coach  and  the  two  cows  that  I  sent  to  Golovliovo  are 
mine  by  law.  Maybe  some  of  my  property  is  left  here. 
However,  I  won't  insist  on  it.  God  Himself  commands 
us  to  give  to  orphans.  I  am  sorry  to  have  lost  mother, 
she  was  a  good  old  woman,  a  kindly  soul.  Oh,  mother 
dear,  it  was  not  right  of  you,  darling,  to  have  left  us 
poor  orphans.  But  if  it  had  pleased  God  to  take  you, 
it  befits  us  to  submit  to  His  holy  will.  May,  at  lea^t, 
your  soul  rejoice  in  heaven,  and  as  for  us — well,  we 
are  not  to  be  considered." 

The  first  death  was  soon  followed  by  another. 

Yudushka's  attitude  toward  his  son's  fate  was  quite 
puzzling.     Since  he  did  not  receive  newspapers  and 


224  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

was  not  in  correspondence  with  anybody,  he  could 
not  learn  anything  of  the  trial  in  which  Petenka  fig- 
ured. And  he  hardly  wished  to.  Above  all  things, 
he  shunned  disturbance  of  every  kind.  He  was  buried 
up  to  his  ears  in  a  swamp  of  petty  details,  all  center- 
ing around  the  welfare  and  preservation  of  his  precious 
self.  There  are  many  such  people  in  this  world.  They 
live  apart  from  the  rest  of  humanity,  having  neither 
the  desire  nor  the  knowledge  to  identify  themselves 
with  a  ''cause,"  and  bursting  in  the  end  like  so  many 
soap  bubbles.  They  have  no  ties  of  friendship,  for 
friendship  presupposes  the  existence  of  common  in- 
terests ;  nor  do  they  have  any  business  connections. 
For  thirty  years  at  a  stretch  Porfiry  Vladimirych  had 
marked  time  in  a  government  office.  Then,  one  fine 
day  he  disappeared,  and  no  one  noticed  the  fact. 

He  learned  of  his  son's  fate  after  his  domestics  had. 
But  even  then  he  feigned  ignorance,  so  that  when 
Yevpraksia  once  tried  to  mention  Petenka,  he  waved 
her  off  and  said : 

"No,  no,  no!  I  don4  know,  I  did  not  hear  any- 
thing, and  I  don't  want  to  hear  anything.  I  don't 
want  to  know  a  thing  about  his  dirty  affairs." 

But  finally  he  did  learn  about  Petenka.  He  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  him  saying  he  w^as  about  to  leave 
for  one  of  the  remote  provinces  and  asking  his  father 
to  continue  to  send  him  an  allowance  in  his  new  po- 
sition. The  whole  of  the  next  day  Porfiry  Vladimirych 
was  in  a  state  of  visible  perplexity.  He  darted  from 
room  to  room,  peeped  into  the  oratory,  crossed  him- 
self, and  sighed.  But  toward  evening  he  plucked  up 
courage  and  wrote  the  following  letter : 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  225 

"My  criminal  son  Piotr : 

"As  a  faithful  and  law-abiding  subject  I  should  not 
even  answer  your  letter.  But  as  a  father  given  to 
human  weaknesses,  I  cannot,  from  a  sense  of  com- 
passion, refuse  good  advice  to  a  child  who,  through 
his  own  fault,  plunged  himself  into  a  whirlpool  of  evil. 

"Here,  in  short,  is  my  opinion  on  the  subject.  The 
punishment  that  has  been  meted  out  to  you  is  severe, 
but  you  quite  deserve  it.  That  is  the  first  and  most 
important  consideration  that  should  always  accompany 
you  in  your  new  life  from  now  on.  All  your  other 
vagaries  and  even  the  memory  thereof  you  must 
forget,  for  in  your  present  situation  all  this  will 
only  tend  to  irritate  you  and  urge  you  on  to  impious 
complaint.  You  have  already  tasted  of  the  bitter  fruits 
of  haughtiness  of  spirit.  Try  now  to  taste  of  the  fruits 
of  humility,  all  the  more  so  since  there  is  nothing  else 
left  for  you  in  the  future.  Do  not  complain  of  the 
punishment,  for  the  authorities  do  not  even  punish 
you,  but  only  provide  means  for  your  correction.  To 
be  grateful  for  this,  and  to  endeavor  to  make  amends 
for  what  you  did — that  is  what  you  must  incessantly 
bear  in  mind,  and  not  the  luxurious  frittering  away 
of  time,  which  I  myself,  by  the  way,  never  did,  al- 
though I  was  never  under  indictment.  So  follow  this 
prudent  advice  of  mine  and  turn  over  a  new  leaf,  sat- 
isfied with  what  the  authorities,  in  their  kindness,  will 
deem  it  necessary  to  allot  to  you.  I,  for  my  part,  will 
pray  the  Giver  of  all  things  good  to  grant  you  firm- 
ness and  humility.  Even  on  the  very  day  on  which  I 
write  these  lines  I  have  been  to  church  and  offered  up 
fervent  prayers  for  you.  And  now,  I  bless  you  for 
the  new  journey  and  remain,  your  indignant  but  still 
loving  father,  Porfiry  Golovliov." 


22б  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

It  is  uncertain  whether  the  letter  ever  reached  Pe- 
tenka,  but  no  more  than  a  month  after  it  was  sent, 
Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  officially  notified  that  his 
son,  while  on  his  way  to  the  place  of  exile,  had  fallen 
ill  and  died  in  a  hospital. 

Yudushka  remained  alone,  but  at  first  did  not  real- 
ize that  this  new  loss  had  made  his  life  an  absolute 
void.  The  realization  came  soon  after  the  death  of 
Arina  Petrovna,  when  he  was  all  absorbed  in  reckon- 
ing and  figuring.  He  read  every  paper  of  the  deceased, 
took  into  account  every  kopek,  traced  the  relation  of 
this  kopek  to  the  kopeks  of  the  guardianship,  not  wish- 
ing, as  he  put  it,  either  to  acquire  another's,  or  to  lose 
his  own.  Amidst  this  bustle  the  question  never  once 
arose  in  his  mind :  To  what  end  was  he  doing  all  this, 
and  who  was  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  busy  hoard- 
ing? 

From  morning  to  night  he  bent  over  his  desk  rnus- 
ing  and  criticizing  the  arrangements  of  the  deceased. 
Engrossed  in  these  cares  he  began  little  by  little  to 
neglect  the  bookkeeping  of  his  own  estate. 

The  manor  fell  into  profound  silence.  The  domes- 
tics, who  had  always  preferred  the  servants'  quarters, 
abandoned  the  house  almost  entirely,  and  луЬеп  in  the 
master's  rooms  would  walk  on  tiptoe  and  speak  in  a 
whisper.  There  Avas  an  air  of  desertion  and  death 
about  the  place  and  about  the  man,  something  eery. 
The  gloom  enveloping  Yudushka  was  to  grow  denser 
every  day. 


CHAPTER  II 

During  Lent,  when  no  theatrical  performances  were 
given,  Anninka  came  to  GolovHovo.  Lubinka  had 
been  unable  to  accompany  her  because  she  had  been 
engaged  for  the  entire  Lent  and  had  gone  to  Romny, 
Izum,  Kremenchug,  etc.,  where  she  was  to  give  con- 
certs and  sing  her  entire  music-hall  repertoire. 

During  her  brief  artistic  career  Anninka  had  greatly 
improved  in  looks.  She  was  no  longer  the  simple, 
anaemic,  somewhat  sluggish  girl  who  in  Dubrovino  or 
Pogorelka  had  walked  from  room  to  room  humming 
and  swaying  awkwardly,  as  if  she  could  not  find  a 
place  "foFberself.  She  was  now  quite  developed,  with 
confident,  even  dashing  manners.  At  the  very  first 
glance  one  could  tell  she  was  quick  at  repartee.  The 
change  in  her  appearance  gave  Porfiry  Vladimirych  a 
pleasant  surprise.  Before  him  stood  a  tall,  well-built 
woman  with  a  lovely  pink  complexion,  high,  well- 
developed  bust,  full  eyes,  and  abundant  ash-colored 
hair,  which  she  wore  braided  low  on  her  neck — a 
woman  evidently  aware  of  her  own  attractiveness. 

She  arrived  at  Golovliovo  early  in  the  morning  and 
at  once  retired  to  a  room,  from  which  she  emerged 
in  a  splendid  silk  gown.  She  entered  the  dining-room 
with  a  swish  of  her  train,  manipulating  it  skilfully 
among  the  chairs.  Though  Yudushka  loved  God  above 
all,  it  did  not  prevent  him  from  having  a  taste  for 

227 


228  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

beautiful  and,  especially,  tall,  plump  women.  So  he 
crossed  Anninka  first,  then  kissed  her  so  emphatically 
on  both  cheeks,  casting  queer  glances  at  her  bust 
meanwhile,  that  Anninka  could  not  refrain  from  smil- 
ing faintly. 

They  sat  down  at  the  tea  table.  Anninka  raised 
her  arms  and  stretched. 

"Oh,  uncle,  how  dull  it  is  here!"  she  began,  yawn- 
ing slightly. 

"There  you  are!  Here  only  a  minute  and  dull  al- 
ready. You  stay  with  us  some  time,  then  we'll  see, 
perhaps  you  won't  find  it  so  dull  after  all,"  answered 
Porfiry  Vladimirych,  his  eyes  suddenly  taking  on  an 
oily  glitter. 

"No,  there  isn't  an  interesting  thing  here.  What  is 
there?  Snow  all  around,  no  neighbors.  Is  there  a 
regiment  quartered  anywhere  near  here?" 

"Yes,  there  is  a  regiment  and  there  are  neighbors; 
but,  to  tell  the  truth,  it  doesn't  interest  me.  Yet,  if 
you " 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  looked  at  her  and  did  not  end 
his  sentence,  but  coughed.  Perhaps  he  had  stopped 
intentionally,  wishing  to  excite  her  feminine  curiosity. 
At  any  rate  the  same  faint  smile  as  before  glided  over 
her  jips.  She  leaned  her  elbows  on  the  table  and 
looked  at  Yevpraksia  fixedly.  The,  girl  all  flushed, 
was  drying  the  glasses,  casting  sly  glances  at  Anninka 
with  her  large,  heavy  eyes. 

"My  new  housekeeper — very  industrious,"  said  Por- 
firy Vladimirych. 

Anninka  nodded  slightly  and  began  to  purr  softly: 

^'Ah,  ah!  que  j'aime — que  j'aime — que  faime — les 
mili-mili-mili-taires Г  and  her  hips  quivered  as  she 
sang. 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  229 

Silence  set  in,  during  which  Yudushka,  his  eyes 
meekly  lowered,  sipped  his  tea  from  a  glass. 

''My,  it's  dull  !'*  said  Anninka,  yawning  again. 

''It's  dull,  and  it's  dull!  You  never  get  tired  of 
saying  that.  You  wait  a  while,  stay  here  a  bit  longer. 
AVe'll  order  the  sleigh  set  to  rights,  and  you'll  ride 
to  your  heart's  content." 

"Uncle,  why  didn't  you  become  a  hussar?" 

"Because,  my  friend,  every  man  has  his  station 
ordained  by  the  Lord.  Some  are  to  become  hussars, 
others  functionaries,  others  merchants;  some 
are " 

"Oh,  yes,  and  so  on,  and  so  forth.  Who  can  keep 
track  of  it  all  ?    And  God  ordained  all  that,  did  He  ?" 

"Why,  yes,  my  friend,  God.  And  it  is  not  proper  to 
scoff.  Do  you  know  what  the  Scriptures  say  ?  'With- 
out the  will  of  God '  " 

"Is  it  about  the  hair?  Yes,  I  know  that,  too.  But 
the  trouble  is,  everybody  wears  false  hair  now,  and  I 
don't  think  that  was  foreseen.  By  the  way,  uncle,  look 
Avhat  wonderful  braids  I  have!  Don't  you  think 
they're  fine?" 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  came  nearer,  for  some  reason, 
on  tiptoe,  and  fingered  her  braids  for  some  time.  And 
Yevpraksia,  without  relaxing  her  hold  on  the  saucer 
filled  with  tea  and  holding  a  bit  of  toast  between  her 
teeth,  leaned  forward  and  said,  "False,  I  suppose?" 

"Oh,  no,  my  own.  Some  day  I'll  let  my  hair  down 
for  you,  uncle." 

"Yes,  your  hair  is  fine,"  said  Yudushka,  his  lips 
parting  in  a  repulsive  smile.  Then  he  recalled  that  one 
must  turn  his  back  on  such  temptations  and  added, 
"Oh,  you  hoyden!    Always  thinking  about  braids  and 


230  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

trains,  but  you'd  never  think  of  inquiring  about  the 
main  thing,  the  real  thing?" 

"Oh,  about  grandmother?     She  is  dead,  isn't  she?" 

"Yes,  my  friend,  she  died.  And  how  she  died! 
Peacefully,  calmly,  not  a  soul  heard  it.  That's  what 
I  call  a  worthy  end  to  one's  earthly  life.  She  thought 
of  everybody,  gave  everybody  her  blessing,  called  a 
priest,  received  her  last  communion,  and  suddenly  be- 
came so  calm,  so  calm!  Then  she  began  to  sigh. 
Sighed  once,  twice,  three  times,  and  before  we  knew 
it,  she  was  no  more." 

Yudushka  rose,  turned  toward  the  ikon,  folded  his 
hands,  and  offered  up  a  prayer.  Tears  rose  to  his 
eyes,  so  well  did  he  simulate.  But  Anninka  apparently 
was  not  of  the  sentimental  kind.  It  is  true  she  re- 
mained pensive  for  a  while  but  for  quite  a  different 
reason. 

"Do  you  remember,  uncle,  how  she  used  to  feed  my 
sister  and  me  on  sour  milk  when  we  were  little  ones? 
Not  later.  Later  she  was  splendid.  I  mean  when  she 
was  still  rich." 

"Oh,  well,  let  bygones  be  bygones.  She  fed  you  on 
sour  milk,  but  you  look  none  the  worse  for  it,  may  the 
Lord  be  with  you.  Do  you  think  you  would  care  to 
visit  her  grave?" 

"Yes,  I  wouldn't  mind." 

"But  you  know,  it  would  be  well  if  you  purified 
yourself  first." 

"What  do  you  mean,  purified?" 

"You  know — an  actress.  You  think  it  was  easy  for 
the  old  woman?»  So  before  you  go  to  her  grave  I 
think  you  should  attend  a  mass  to  purify  yourself, 
you  know.  You  see,  I'll  order  a  mass  early  tomorrow 
morning,  and  then — Godspeed!" 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  231 

Absurd  as  Yudushka's  proposition  was,  it  confused 
Anninka  for  a  minute.  But  she  soon  knitted  her 
brows  angrily  and  said  sharply : 

"No,  Г11  go  now — as  I  am !" 

"Well,  I  don't  know,  do  as  you  please.  But  my 
advice  is:  let's  attend  the  mass  tomorrow  morning, 
then  take  tea  and  have  a  pair  of  swift  little  horses 
hitched  to  a  pony  cart,  and  then  go  together.  You 
see,  you  would  become  cleansed  of  your  sins,  and  your 
grandmother's  soul  would " 

"Oh,  uncle,  how  foolish  you  are,  though.  Lord 
knows  what  nonsense  you  talk.  And  you  even  in- 
sist on  it." 

"So  you  don't  like  it?  Well,  don't  hold  it  against 
me,  my  dear.  I  am  straight  from  the  shoulder,  you 
know.  When  it  comes  to  truth,  I'll  tell  it  to  others  and 
take  it  from  others  as  well.  Though  at  times  it  goes 
against  the  grain,  though  truth  is  hard  at  times,  but 
I'll  always  listen  to  it.  And  one  must  listen  to  it, 
because — it's  the  truth.  So,  my  dear.  You  stay  with 
us  a  while  and  live  the  way  we  do.  Then  you'll  see 
that  it's  better  than  going  with  a  guitar  from  fair  to 
fair." 

"Heaven  knows  what  you're  talking  about,  uncle, 
^With  a  guitar !'  " 

"Well,  if  it  isn't  a  guitar,  then  it's  a  bagpipe  or 
something.  Besides,  you  offended  me  first,  called  me 
foolish.  So  I,  an  old  man,  surely  have  a  right  to  tell 
you  the  truth  to  your  face." 

"All  right,  let  it  be  the  truth.  We  won't  argue  about 
it.  But  tell  me,  please,  did  grandmother  leave  any- 
thing?" 

"Why,  of  course,  she  did.  But  the  legitimate  heir 
was  present  in  person.'* 


:il2  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"That  is  yotf.    All  the  better.    Was  she  buried  here 
in  Golovliovo?" 

"No,  near  Pogorelka,  at  the  St.  Nicholas  Church. 
It  was  her  own  wish." 

"I'll  go.    Can  I  hire  horses  here,  uncle?" 

"Why  hire?  I've  got  my  own.  You  are  not  a 
stranger,  I  dare  say,  a  niece,  my  little  niece." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  began  to  liven  up,  and  put  on 
an  en  famille  grin.  "A  pony  cart,  a  pair  of  line  little 
horses — thank  God,  I  am  not  poor,  I  dare  say!  And 
wouldn't  it  be  well  for  me  to  go  with  you?  We  would 
visit  the  grave,  you  see,  and  then  would  go  to  Pogo- 
relka and  peep  in  here  and  there,  and  we  would  think 
matters  over,  talk  things  over — about  this  and  that. 
Yours  is  a  fine  little  estate,  you  know.  It  has  some 
very  good  spots." 

"No,  I'll  go  alone,  I  think.  Why  should  you  go? 
By  the  way,  Petenka's  dead,  too,  I  hear?" 

"Yes,  my  dear  friend,  Petenka  is  dead,  too.  I  am 
sorry  for  him  in  one  way,  very  sorry — to  the  point 
of  tears;  but  then — it  was  all  his  own  fault.  He  was 
always  disrespectful  to  his  father,  that's  why  God 
punished  him.  And  what  God,  in  His  great  wisdom, 
did,  you  and  I  cannot  undo." 

"Of  course,  we  can't.  But  what  makes  me  wonder 
is,  why  you  don't  find  it  too  horrible  to  live." 

"Why  should  I  fear?  You  see  how  much  jucgor 
I  have  all  around."  Yudushka  made  a  gesture,  point- 
ing to  the  ikons.  "Succor  here  and  succor  in  my 
study.  The  ikon  room  is  a  veritable  paradise.  You 
see  how  many  protectors  I  have." 

"But  still,  you  are  always  alone.     It's  frightful." 

"And  if  I  am  afraid,  I  fall' on  my  knees,  say  a 
prayer,  and  the  fear  is  all  gone.    And  why  be  afraid? 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  233 

It's  light  during  the  day,  and  at  night  I  have  ikon 
lamps  burning  in  every  room.  From  outside  in  the 
dark  it  looks  as  if  there  were  a  ball  in  the  house. 
And  what  ball?  Who  are  the  guests?  Holy  protec- 
tors, God's  chosen.    Those  are  my  guests  !'* 

*'You  know,  Petenka  wrote  to  us  before  his  death." 

"Well,  of  course,  he  is  a  relative.  It's  a  good  thing 
he  did  not  lose  his  feelings  of  kinship.^' 

"Yes,  he  wrote  to  us.  It  was  after  the  trial,  when 
sentence  had  been  pronounced.  He  wrote  he  had  lost 
three  thousand  rubles  in  cards  and  you  would  not  give 
him  the  money.    But  you  are  rich,  uncle,  aren't  you?" 

"Ah,  my  dear,  it's  easy  to  count  money  in  another\h 
man's  pocket.     Sometimes  we  think  a  man  has  moun-^  * 
tains  of  gold,  and  when  you  come  closer  you  see  he 
has  barely  enough  for  oil  and  a  candle — not  for  him- 
self—for God." 

"Well,  then,  we  are  richer  than  you.  We  gave  some 
of  our  own  money  and  took  up  a  collection  among  our 
gentlemen  friends.  We  scraped  six  hundred  rubles 
together  and  sent  it  to  him." 

"What  do  you  mean  'gentlemen  friends  ?'  " 

"Oh,  uncle,  we  are  actresses,  you  know.  Didn't  you 
yourself  suggest  that  I  purify  myself?" 

"I  don't  like  it  when  you  speak  that  way." 

"What  can  you  do?  Whether  you  like  it  or  not, 
you  can't  undo  what  has  been  done.  According  to 
you,  God  is  in  that,  too." 

"Don't  blaspheme  at  least.  You  may  say  anything 
you  want,  but  don't  blaspheme.  I  won't  stand  for  it. 
Where  did  you  send  the  money  to  ?" 

"I  don't  remember.  To  a  little  town  of  some  sort. 
He  wrote  us  the  name." 

"I  didn't  know.    If  there  was  money,  I  should  have 


234  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

gotten  it  after  his  death.  It  is  not  possible  that  he 
spent  it  all  at  once.  Well,  I  don't  know,  I  didn't  get 
any.     I  suppose  the  jailers  and  guards  were  on  to  it." 

"I'm  not  asking  for  it,  uncle.  I  just  mentioned  it 
while  we  were  on  the  subject.  It's  awful,  uncle,  for 
a  man  to  perish  on  account  of  three  thousand  rubles." 

'^It  wasn't  all  on  account  of  the  three  thousand. 
Haven't  you  something  else  to  say  than  to  keep  on  re- 
peating 'three  thousand,  three  thousand?'  But 
God " 

Yudushka  had  got  his  cue  and  was  about  to  ex- 
plain in  detail  how  God — Providence — by  unseen 
ways — and  all  that,  but  Anninka  unceremoniously 
yawned  and  said : 

''Oh,  uncle,  how  boring  it  is  here." 

This  time  Porfiry  Vladimirych  w^as  truly  offended 
and  became  silent.  For  a  long  time  they  both  paced  up 
and  down  the  dining  room.  Anninka  yawned,  Por- 
firy Vladimirych  crossed  himself  at  every  step.  At 
last  the  carriage  was  announced  and  the  usual  comedy 
of  seeing  relations  off  began.  Golovliov  put  on  his 
fur  coat,  went  out  on  the  porch,  kissed  Anninka  and 
shouted  to  the  servants,  "Her  feet !  Wrap  up  her 
feet  well !"  and  "What  about  the  blankets,  have  you 
taken  the  blankets  along?  See  you  don't  forget  them !" 
all  the  while  making  signs  of  the  cross  in  the  air. 

Anninka  visited  her  grandmother's  grave,  asked  the 
priest  to  say  the  mass,  and  when  the  choir  began  to 
chant  the  "Eternal  memory,"  she  cried  a  bit.  The 
background  of  the  ceremony  was  rather  sad.  The 
church  near  which  Arina  Petrovna  had  been  buried 
was  of  the  poorest  kind.  In  some  places  the  plaster 
had  fallen  off  its  w^alls  and  exposed  large  patches  of 
brick.    The  sound  of  the  bells  was  feeble  and  hollow, 


«« 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  235 

the  priest's  robe  was  threadbare.  The  cemetery  was 
snowed  under,  so  that  the  path  to  the  grave  had  to  be 
shovelled  clear.  No  monument  had  yet  been  placed. 
Nothing  but  a  plain  white  cross,  even  without  an  in- 
scription, marked  the  grave.  The  cemetery  was  in  a 
lonely  spot  removed  from  any  dwelling.  Not  far  from 
the  church  stood  the  houses  of  the  priest  and  the  church 
officials  and  all  around  the  cheerless,  snow-covered 
plains  stretched  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  Here 
and  there  one  could  see  brushwood  jutting  out  from 
the  snow.  A  sharp  March  wind  was  sweeping  over 
the  churchyard,  wafting  away  the  chanting  of  the 
churchmen  and  lashing  the  priest's  robe. 

"Who  would  have  thought,  madam,  that  the  richest 
landlady  in  the  district  would  rest  here  under  this 
modest  cross  in  our  poor  parish?"  said  the  priest 
when  he  was  through  with  the  requiem. 

At  these  words  Anninka  cried  again.  She  recalled 
the  poet's  line :  "Where  feasts  once  reigned  a  hearse 
now  stands!"  And  the  tears  kept  streaming  down 
her  cheeks.  Then  she  went  to  the  priest's  house,  had 
tea  there,  and  talked  with  his  wife.  Another  line  came 
back  to  her :  "And  pallid  death  on  all  doth  stare,"  and 
again  she  wept,  long  and  bitterly. 

Nobody  had  notified  the  people  at  Pogorelka  that  the 
young  lady  was  coming,  so  that  the  rooms  were  not 
even  heated.  Anninka,  with  her  fur  coat  on,  walked 
through  all  the  rooms,  remaining  a  moment  in  grand- 
mother's bedroom  and  the  ikon  room.  In  the  former 
she  found  a  bedstead  with  a  heap  of  soiled,  greasy 
pillows,  some  without  pillow-cases.  Scraps  of  paper 
lay  on  the  desk  in  disorder,  the  floor  had  not  been 
swept  and  a  thick  coat  of  dust  covered  everything. 
Anninka  sat  down  in  the  easy-chair  where  her  grand- 


2з6  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

mother  used  to  sit,  and  became  lost  in  thought.  At 
first  came  up  reminiscences  of  the  past ;  then  they  were 
crowded  out  by  images  of  the  present.  The  former 
came  in  the  shape  of  fleeting  patches  and  fragments, 
pausing  in  her  mind  for  no  more  than  a  moment;  the 
latter  were  more  persistent.  It  was  but  a  brief  while 
ago  that  she  had  longed  to  flee  from  Pogorelka  and  it 
had  seemed  a  hateful  place.  Now  her  heart  suddenly 
filled  with  a  morbid  desire  to  live  there  again. 

"It  is  quiet  here,  it  is  not  cozy,  and  it  is  unsightly; 
but  it  is  quiet,  so  quiet,  as  if  everything  around  were 
dead.     There  is  much  air  and  much  room." 

She  looked  out  over  the  endless  fields  and  felt  a 
desire  to  dash  straight  across  them,  without  aim  or 
purpose,  just  to  breathe_fast  and  feel  a  pain  in  her 
chest.  And  there,  in  the  haTT-nort'iadiC  ПТё  from  which 
she  had  just  escaped  and  to  which  she  must  return — 
what  awaited  her  there?  What  had  she  gained  by  it? 
Nothing  but  recollections  of  hotels  permeated  with 
stench,  of  an  everlasting  din  coming  from  the  dining 
and  billiard  rooms,  of  unkempt  porters,  of  rehearsals 
on  the  stage  in  the  twilight  and  among  the  scenes  of 
painted  linen,  the  feel  of  which  was  abominable,  in 
the  draught  and  in  the  dampness.  And  then,  army 
officers,  lawyers,  obscene  language,  and  the  eternal  up- 
roar !  What  hadn't  the  men  told  her !  With  what  ob- 
scenity hadn't  they  touched  her!  Especially  the  one 
Avith  the  mustache,  with  a  voice  hoarse  from  drink, 
inflamed  eyes,  and  a  perpetual  smell  of  the  stable  about 
him.  Lord,  what  he  had  told  her !  Anninka  shivered 
at  the  very  recollection  and  shut  her  eyes.  Then  she 
came  to,  sighed,  and  went  into  the  ikon  room.  There 
were  now  only  a  few  ikons  in  the  image-case,  only 
those    which    had    unquestionably    belonged    to    her 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  237 

mother.  The  rest  of  them,  her  grandmother's,  Yu- 
dushka,  as  the  legitimate  heir,  had  removed  to  Golov- 
Hovo.  The  empty  spaces  where  they  had  stood  stared 
Hke  the  hollow  eye-sockets  in  a  deathshead.  Nor  were 
there  any  ikon  lamps.  Yudushka  had  taken  all  of 
them.  Only  one  yellow  bit  of  wax  candle  stood  out, 
orphan-like,  from  a  miniature  tin  candlestick  that  had 
been  forgotten. 

"His  Excellency  wanted  to  take  the  image  case,  too. 
He  was  trying  to  make  sure  if  it  really  was  a  part  of 
madam's  dowry,"  reported  Afimyushka. 

''Well,  he  could  have  taken  it.  Tell  me,  Afimyushka, 
did  grandma  suffer  much  before  she  died?" 

*'No,  not  much,  she  was  laid  up  for  only  a  day  or 
so.  She  just  went  out,  of  her  own  self.  She  wasn't 
really  sick  or  anything.  She  didn't  talk  either,  just 
mentioned  you  and  your  sister  once  or  twice." 

''So  Porfiry  Vladimirych  carried  off  the  ikons?" 

"Yes,  he  did.  He  said  they  were  his  mother's  per- 
sonal property.  He  also  took  the  coach  and  two  cows. 
From  the  mistress's  papers  he  gathered,  I  suppose,  that 
they  belonged  to  your  grandmother,  not  to  you.  He 
also  wanted  to  take  away  a  horse,  but  Fedulych  would 
not  give  it  to  him.  'It's  our  horse,'  he  said,  'an  old- 
timer  in  Pogorelka.'  So  Porfiry  Vladimirych  left  it 
here.    He  was  afraid." 

Anninka  walked  through  the  yard,  peeped  into  the 
servants'  quarters,  the  barn,  and  the  cattle  yard.  In 
a  swamp  of  manure  stood  about  twenty  lean  cows  and 
three  horses.  She  ordered  some  bread  to  be  brought, 
saying,  "I'll  pay  for  it,"  and  gave  every  cow  a  piece 
of  bread. 

Then  the  cattle-house  woman  invited  the  young 
lady  into  the  house.     There  was  a  jug  of  milk  on  the 


2з8  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

table,  and  in  the  corner  near  the  oven,  behind  a  low 
wainscot  screening,  a  new-born  calf  was  sheltered. 

Anninka  tasted  some  milk,  ran  to  the  little  calf, 
kissed  his  snout,  but  quickly  wiped  her  lips,  saying 
the  calf  had  a  horrid  snout,  all  slabbery.  At  the  end, 
she  produced  three  yellow  bills  from  her  pocketbook, 
distributed  them  to  the  old  domestics,  and  prepared  to 

go- 

''What  are  you  going  to  do?"  she  asked,  while  she 

made  herself  comfortable  in  the  pony  cart,  of  old  Fed- 

ulych,  who,  as  the  starosfa,  followed  the  young  owner, 

with  his  hands  crossed  on  his  breast. 

"Well,  what  can  we  do  ?  We'll  live,"  answered  Fed- 
ulych  simply. 

Anninka  became  sad  again  for  a  moment.  There 
seemed  to  be  irony  in  Fedulych's  words.  She  waited 
a  while,  sighed,  and  said : 

"Well,  good-by." 

"We  thought  that  you  would  come  back  and  live 
with  us,"  said  Fedulych. 

"No,  whafs  the  use?    Anyway — you  live  on!" 

Tears  flowed  from  her  eyes  again  and  'the  others 
cried,  too.  It  seemed  peculiar  to  her :  there  was  noth- 
ing to  regret  in  leaving  the  place,  nothing  sentimental 
to  remember  it  by,  and  yet  she  was  crying.  And  those 
people,  too.  She  had  not  said  anything  out  of  the 
ordinary  to  them — just  the  usual  questions  and  an- 
swers— and  yet  their  hearts  were  heavy,  they  were 
sorry  to  see  her  go.  She  was  seated  in  the  cart, 
wrapped  up  and  well  covered.  Everybody  heaved  a 
sigh.  "Good  luck !"  came  running  after  her  when  the 
cart  started.  Passing  the  churchyard  she  stopped 
again  and  went  to  the  grave  alone  without  the  eccle- 
siastics, following  the  path  that  had  been  cleared.     It 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  239 

was  quite  dark,  and  lights  began  to  appear  in  the 
houses  of  the  church  officials.  She  stood  there  with 
one  hand  holding  on  to  the  cross  rising  from  the  grave. 
She  did  not  cry,  but  only  swayed  slightly,  thinking  of 
nothing  in  particular,  unable  to  formulate  any  definite 
thought.  But  she  was  unhappy,  Jn_  every  way  un- 
happy. Not  because  of  grandmother,  but  on  her  own 
account.  So  she  stood  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and 
suddenly  before  her  eyes  rose  the  image  of  Lubinka, 
who  perhaps  at  that  very  moment  was  singing  merrily 
in  a  rollicking  company,  somewhere  in  Kremenchug: 

''Ah,  ah,  que  j'aime,  que  j'aime! 
Que  faime,  les  mili-mili-mili-f aires !'' 

She  almost  broke  down.  She  ran  to  her  cart,  seated 
herself,  and  ordered  the  coachman  to  drive  to  Golov- 
liovo  as  fast  as  possible. 


CHAPTER  III 

When  Anninka  returned  to  her  uncle's,  she  was  dull 
and  silent,  though  she  did  feel  a  bit  hungry  (in  the 
hurry,  uncle  had  not  given  her  some  chicken  to  take 
along)  and  was  very  glad  the  table  was  already  set 
for  tea.  Of  course,  Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  not  slow 
to  open  a  conversation. 

"Well,  were  you  there?" 

"Yes,  I  was." 

"Did  you  pray  at  the  grave  ?  Did  you  have  the  re- 
quiem sung?" 

"Yes." 

"So  the  priest  was  at  home?" 

"Of  course  he  was,  or  who  would  have  performed 
the  requiem?" 

"Oh,  yes,  certainly.  And  the  two  sextons,  were  they 
there?    Did  they  sing:  'Eternal  memory?'  " 

"Yes,  they  did." 

"Yes,  eternal  memory!  May  she  rest  in  peace. 
She  was  a  good,  kind  woman." 

Yudushka  rose  from  his  seat,  faced  the  ikon  and 
offered  up  a  prayer. 

"Well,  and  how  did  you  find  things  in  Pogorelka, 
everything  in  good  shape?" 

"I  don't  know,  really.  I  think  everything  is  in  its 
proper  place." 

"Indeed,  'I  think.'     You  always  'think,'  but  when 

240 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  241 

you  take  a  good  look  you  find  this  is  wrong  and  that 
is  wrong.  That's  how  we  judge  of  other  people's  busi- 
ness. We  *think'  and  we  'guess !'  But  anyway,  you've 
got  a  nice  little  estate.  My  late  mother  fixed  it  all  up 
very  nicely.  She  even  spent  a  good  deal  of  her  own 
money  on  it.  Well,  it's  only  right  to  help  orphans 
along." 

Listening  to  these  chants  of  praise,  Anninka  could 
not  refrain  from  teasing  her  kindhearted  uncle. 

''Uncle,  why  did  you  take  two  cows  away  from 
Pogorelka?"  she  asked. 

"Cows,  what  cows?  Oh,  you  mean  the  black  and 
the  spotted  one?  Well,  my  dear,  they  belonged  to  my 
mother." 

"And  you  are  her  legitimate  heir?  Oh,  well,  you 
can  have  them.  Do  you  want  me  to  send  you  a  little 
calf?    I  will,  if  you  want  me  too." 

"Now,  there!  Look  at  her  getting  excited!  Let's 
talk  business,  whom  do  you  think  the  cows  belong 
to?" 

"How  do  I  know?    They  were  in  Pogorelka." 

"And  I  do  know.  I  have  proof  that  the  cows  be- 
longed to  mother.  I  found  a  memorandum  written 
in  her  own  hand.     'Mine,'  is  plainly  written  there." 

"Oh,  let's  drop  it.     It  isn't  worth  talking  about." 

"There's  a  pony  at  Pogorelka,  too,  little  old  Baldy, 
you  know.  Well,  about  Baldy  I  am  not  sure.  I 
think  Baldy  belonged  to  mother,  but  I'm  not  sure. 
And  I  can't  speak  of  what  I  don't  know." 

"Let's  drop  it,  uncle." 

"No,  why  drop  it?  I'm  straight  from  the  shoulder, 
my  dear,  I  like  to  bring  out  the  truth  of  things.  Why 
not  talk  it  over  ?  Nobody  wants  to  part  with  his  own. 
I  don't,  you  don't.     Well,  then,  let's  talk  it  over  and 


242  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

see  who's  right.  And  when  it  comes  to  talking,  Г11  tell 
you  plainly:  I  don't  want  what's  yours  and  I  won't 
let  go  of  mine,  either.  Because,  though  you  are  not 
a  stranger  to  me,  still  I '* 

"And  you  even  took  the  ikons,"  Anninka  could  not 
refrain  from  remarking. 

"Yes,  the  ikons,  too.  I  took  everything  that  be- 
longed to  me  by  law." 

"Now  the  image  case  looks  as  if  it  has  holes  in  it." 

"What  can  you  do?  You'll  have  to  pray  before  it 
as  it  is.  God,  you  know,  does  not  want  your  image 
case,  but  your  prayers.  If  you  are  sincere  about  it, 
your  prayer  will  reach  Him,  even  if  it's  done  before 
poor  ikons.  And  if  you  just  pray  without  meaning  it, 
and  look  around  and  make  a  courtesy,  then  the  best 
images  will  be  of  no  avail." 

Nevertheless,  Yudushka  rose  and  offered  thanks  to 
God  for  the  fact  that  his  images  were  "good." 

"Well,  and  if  you  don't  like  the  old  image  case,  have 
a  new  one  built  and  put  in  new  ikons  instead  of  those 
taken  out.  My  deceased  mother  acquired  the  old 
ikons  at  her  own  cost,  and  now  it's  up  to  you  to  get 
new  ones." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  even  tittered,  so  clear  and  sim- 
ple did  his  reasoning  seem  to  him. 

"But  tell  me,  please,  what  am  I  to  do  now  ?"  Anninka 
asked. 

"Well,  wait  a  while.  Rest  up  first,  loll  around,  get 
some  sleep.  We'll  talk  the  matter  over  and  examine 
it  from  every  angle,  and  we'll  see  what  can  be  done. 
Both  of  us  together  may  think  up  something." 

"Sister  and  I  are  of  age,  I  think?" 

"Yes,  of  age.  Quite  so.  You  can  now  manage 
yourself  and  your  estate." 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  243 

"Thank  God  at  least  for  that." 

"I  have  the  honor  to  congratulate  you/* 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  rose  to  kiss  her. 

''How  funny  you  are,  uncle,  always  kissing." 

''Why  shouldn't  I  kiss  you?  You  are  not  a  stranger, 
I  may  say,  you  are  my  niece.  I  like  kinsfolk,  my  dear. 
I  am  always  for  my  relatives,  near  or  distant,  second, 
third,  or  fourth  cousins,  I'm  always  with  them." 

"You'd  better  tell  me  what  I  am  to  do.  Must  I 
go  to  town  and  see  all  the  officials?" 

"Yes,  and  we'll  go  to  town  and  we'll  attend  to  the 
matter — all  in  due  time.  But  before  we  do  that,  rest 
up  a  bit.  Stay  here  a  while.  You  are  not  stopping 
at  an  inn  but  at  your  uncle's,  I  may  say.  You'll  have 
enough  to  eat  and  drink,  and  for  your  sweet  tooth 
we've  got  plenty  of  everything.  If  you  don't  like  a 
dish,  ask  for  a  different  one.  Demand,  insist!  If  you 
don't  care  for  cabbage  soup,  ask  for  chicken  soup. 
Order  cutlets,  duck,  pork.  Get  after  Yevpraksia. 
Here  I  boasted  about  pork  and  I  don't  really  know  if 
we've  got  any.     Have  we?" 

Yevpraksia,  holding  the  saucer  with  the  hot  tea  to 
her  mouth,  nodded  affirmatively. 

"Well,  you  see,  we've  got  pork  too,  and  all  in  all 
you  can  have  whatever  your  heart  desires." 

Yudushka  approached  Anninka  again  and  like  a 
good  relative  clapped  her  on  the  knee  and  quite  in- 
advertently let  his  hand  rest  there  a  little,  so  that  An- 
ninka instinctively  recoiled. 

"But  I've  got  to  go,"  she  said. 

"That's  just  what  I've  been  saying.  We'll  discuss 
matters  and  talk  things  over  and  then  we'll  go  with  a 
prayer  and  a' benediction,  but  not — hop!  jump!  run! 
The  more  haste  the  less  speed.     You  may  hurry  to  a 


244  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

fire,  but  our  house  is  not  ablaze.  Well,  Lubinka  has 
got  to  hurry  to  the  fair,  but  what  is  your  hurry?  An- 
other thing  I  meant  to  ask  you,  Are  you  going  to  live 
in  Pogorelka?" 

"No,  there's  nothing  for  me  to  do  there." 

"That's  just  what  I  was  going  to  say.  Move  here, 
to  my  house.  We'll  live  here  and  have  a  fine  time  of 
it." 

Yudushka  looked  at  Anninka  with  such  oily  eyes 
that  she  became  embarrassed. 

"No,  uncle,  I  don't  want  to  stay  here  with  you. 
It's  too  dull." 

"Oh,  you  silly  little  thing!  Why  do  you  keep  re- 
peating 'dull,  dull  ?'  You  speak  of  dullness  and  Г11  bet 
you  don't  know  what's  dull  around  here.  If  you  have 
something  to  keep  you  busy,  and  if  you  know  how  to 
manage  yourself,  you'll  never  feel  dull.  Take  me,  for 
example,  I  don't  notice  how  time  flies.  On  week  days 
I'm  busy  with  the  affairs  of  the  estate.  I  look  at 
this  and  take  a  peep  into  that,  and  figure  out  one  thing 
and  discuss  another  thing.  Before  I  know  it,  the  day 
is  gone.  And  on  a  holiday — to  church !  You  will  do 
the  same  thing.  Stay  with  us  for  a  while.  We'll  find 
something  for  you  to  do.  In  your  leisure  time  you 
may  play  fool  with  Yevpraksia,  or  go  sleigh-riding — 
slide  along  as  fast  as  you  wish.  And  when  summer 
comes  we'll  go  to  the  woods  picking  mushrooms.  And 
we'll  have  tea  on  the  lawn." 

"No,  uncle,  it's  no  use  trying  to  persuade  me." 

"Really,  you  ought  to  stay." 

"No.  But  the  journey  has  tired  me,  so  I  should  like 
to  go  to  bed  if  possible." 

"Yes,  you  can  go  rock-a-by.  I've  got  a  nice  little 
bed  ready  for  you,  everything  in  proper  fashion.     If 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  245 

you  want  to  go  rock-a-by,  go  right  ahead.  But  I 
should  advise  you  to  think  the  matter  over.  I  think 
it  v^rould  be  best  for  you  to  stay  with  us  at  GolovHovo." 


CHAPTER  IV 

Anninka  spent  a  restless  night.  The  hysterical 
mood  that  had  overtaken  her  at  Pogorelka  still  per- 
sisted. There  are  moments  when  a  person  who  has 
been  merely  existing  suddenly  realizes  that  there  is 
a  vile  ulcer  of  some  kind  festering  in  his  life.  Where 
it  came  from,  how  it  formed  itself — one  cannot  al- 
ways explain  to  oneself.  In  most  cases  it  is  not  as- 
cribed to  the  causes  that  have  really  brought  it  on. 
But  an  explanation  is  not  even  needed.  It  is  sufficient 
that  such  an  ulcer  exists.  The  effects  of  such  a 
sudden  discovery,  while  equally  painful  to  everyone, 
vary  in  their  practical  results,  with  the  individual's 
temperament.  Some  are  rejuvenated  and  inspired 
with  a  determination  to  begin  a  new  life  on  new  foun- 
dations. Others  feel  but  a  passing  pain  that  will  not 
bring  a  profound  change  for  the  better,  but  is  even 
sharper  than  when  the  disturbed  conscience  sees  the 
faint  hope  of  a  brighter  future. 

Anninka  was  not  of  those  in  whom  the  conscious- 
ness of  ulcers  produces  the  impulse  to  rejuvenation. 
Nevertheless,  she  realized,  being  an  intelligent  person, 
that  there  was  an  abyss  between  the  vague  dreams  of 
honest  toil  which  had  impelled  her  to  leave  Pogorelka 
forever  and  her  position  of  provincial  actress.  In- 
stead of  a  life  of  quiet  and  toil,  she  had  fallen  upon 
a  stormy  existence,  filled  with  perpetual  debauchery, 

246 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  247 

shameless  obscenity  and  cynicism,  with  vain  and  ever- 
lasting bustle.  Instead  of  the  privations  and  stern  sur- 
roundings in  which  she  had  once  lived,  she  had  met 
comparative  ease  and  comfort.  She  could  not  think  of 
it  now  without  a  blush  of  shame.  She  had  hardly  no- 
ticed the  gradual  transformation.  She  had  wanted  to 
go  to  a  good  place  but  had  entered  the  wrong  door. 
Her  desires  had  been  very  modest,  indeed.  How  often 
she  had  dreamed,  in  the  attic  of  Pogorelka,  of  becom- 
ing an  earnest  girl,  working,  thirsting  for  education, 
bearing  hardships  with  fortitude,  all  for  the  sake  of 
the  good.  ^It  is  true,  ''good"  hardly  had  definite  mean-  A 
ing  to  her. )  But  as  soon  as  she  had  stepped  out  on  to 
the  highroad  of  independent  activity,  bitter  reality  had 
shattered  her  dreams  at  once.  .  An  honest  livelihood 
does  not  come  of  itself,  but  is  attained  only  by  per- 
sistent search  and  previous  training  which  help  in  the 
quest  to  some  extent.  But  neither  Anninka's  tempera- 
ment nor  education  provided  her  with  this.  Her  tem-  \ 
perament  was  not  marked  by  passion,  it  was  simply 
sensitive.  The  material  that  her  education  had  given 
her  and  on  which  she  meant  to  build  up  her  life  of 
honest  toil  was  so  unreliable  and  poor  that  it  could 
hardly  serve  as  a  basis  for  serious  work.  Her  educa- 
tion was  of  the  boarding-school,  music-hall  kind,  with 
the  balance  tipping  to  the  side  of  the  music-hall.  It 
was  a  chaotic  heap  in  which  problems  were  piled  up 
about  a  flock  of  geese,  dancing  steps  with  a  shawl,  the 
sermons  of  Peter  of  Picardy,  the  exploits  of  Fair 
Helen,  the  Ode  to  Felitsa,  and  the  prescribed  feeling 
of  gratitude  to  the  instructors  and  patrons  of  the  in- 
stitution. What  was  left  clear  of  this  chaotic  jumble 
in  her  soul  might  quite  properly  be  called  a  tabula 
rasa.     There  was  scarcely  a  thing  to  be  read  in  it; 


248  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

it  certainly  offered  no  possibility  of  finding  a  starting- 
point  in  her  for  better  things.  Whatever  preparation 
she  had  had  inspired  not  love  for  work  but  love  for  a 
'"society"  life,  the  desire  to  be  surrounded  by  admirers 
and  listen  to  their  flattery,  the  desire  to  plunge  into  the 
social  din,  glamor  and  whirlwind. 

If  she  had  listened  to  herself,  she  would  have  dis- 
covered that  even  in  Pogorelka,  when  just  beginning 
to  make  plans  for  a  life  of  honest  toil  as  a  deliverance 
from    Egyptian    bondage,     she    could    have    caught 
herself  dreaming  not  so  much  of  work  as  of  being 
surrounded   by   a   society   of   congenial   people,    frit- 
tering her  time  away  in  empty  talk.     Of  course,  the 
people  of  her  dreams  were  clever,  and  their  conversa- 
tion was  honest  and  serious,  but  the  idle  side  of  life 
was  always  in  the  foreground.     Poverty  was  distin- 
guished by  neatness,- privations  amounted  merely  to  a 
lack  of  luxuries.     So,  when  her  dreams  of  a  life  of 
work  came  to  a  head  and  she  was  offered  a  part  in  one 
of  the  provincial  theatres,  she  hesitated  little,  though 
the  contrast  between  dream  and  reality  was  great.    She 
hastily  freshened  up  her  school  information  about  the 
relations  of  Helen  and  Menelaus,  supplemented  it  by 
some  biographical  details  from  the  life  of  the  splendid 
Prince   of   Tauris   and   decided   that   that   was   quite 
sufficient  to  produce  Fair  Helen  and  Episodes  from  the 
I^ife  of  the  Duchess  of  Herolstein  in  the  provincial 
theatres  and  at  the  fairs.    To  clear  her  conscience  she 
recalled  the  words  of  a  student  she  had  met  in  Mos- 
cow who  used  to  exclaim  repeatedly,  "Sacred  Art!" 
She  made  this  her  slogan,  because  it  was  the  easiest 
way  out,  and  gave  at  least  outward  decorum  to  the  path 
she  had  chosen — the  path  toward  which  the  whole  of 
her  being  was  instinctively  tending. 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  249 

The  life  of  an  actress  upset  her.  Alone,  without 
the  guidance  of  proper  preparation,  without  a  con- 
scious aim,  with  only  a  temperament  craving  for  din,JA 
glamor,  and  applause,  she  soon  found  herself  sur-  ^  i 
rounded  by  a  chaos  in  which  many  persons  thronged, 
some  coming,  others  going,  without  apparent  order 
or  connection.  There  were  people  of  the  most  diverse 
characters  and  views,  so  that  j^he  motives  for  becom- 
ing intimate  with  this  one  or  that  one  were  not  the 
same.  Nevertheless,  they  were  all  integral  parts  of 
her  circle,  so  that  there  really  could  be  no  question  of 
motives. 

Her  life  had  become  like  the  gate  to  an  inn,  at  which 
every  gay,  wealthy,  young  man  could  knock  and  claim 
entrance.  Clearly  it  was  not  a  matter  of  selecting  a 
congenial  company,  but  of  fitting  into  any  kind  of 
company  so  as  not  to  die  of  ennui.  Her  "sacred  art" 
had  really  thrown  her  into  a  mire,  but  her  head  was 
turned,  and  she  did  not  notice  her  position.  Neither 
the  dirty  faces  of  the  porters  nor  the  slimy,  dilapidated 
stage  properties,  nor  the  din,  stench,  and  noise  of  the 
hotels  and  inns,  nor  the  obscene  behavior  of  her  ad- 
mirers— none  of  these  things  produced  a  sobering  ef- 
fect. She  did  not  even  notice  that  she  was  always  in 
the  society  of  men  only,  and  that  there  was  a  per- 
manent barrier  between  her  and  the  women  of  estab- 
lished position. 

The  visit  to  Golovliovo  sobered  her  for  a  moment.^-* 

In  the  morning,  almost  immediately  after  her  ar- 
rival, she  began  to  feel  uneasy.  Highly  impression- 
able, she  quickly  absorbed  new  sensations  and  quickly 
adapted  herself  to  new  situations.  Consequently,  as 
soon  as  she  reached  Golovliovo,  she  felt  herself  a 
"lady."    She  suddenly  recalled  that  she  had  something 


250  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

of  her  own :  her  own  home,  her  own  graves.  She  be- 
came filled  with  a  desire  to  see  herself  in  her  former 
surroundings,  to  breathe  the  air  from  which  she  had 
only  recently  fled.  But  her  impression  was  immedi- 
ately dispelled  by  contact  with  the  reality  she  found 
there.  Her  experience  in  this  was  like  that  of  a  person 
who  enters  with  a  smile  among  friends  he  has  not  seen 
for  a  long  time,  and  suddenly  notices  that  everybody 
responds  to  his  cordial  greetings  coldly.  The  nasty 
glances  Yudushka  cast  at  her  figure  reminded  her  that 
her  position  was  questionable  and  not  easy  to  change. 
When  she  remained  alone,  after  the  naive  questions  of 
the  Pogorelka  servants,  after  the  pious  sighs  of  warn- 
ing of  the  Pogorelka  priest  and  his  wife,  after  the 
fresh  sermons  of  Yudushka,  when  she  examined  her 
impressions  of  the  day  at  leisure,  she  became  con- 
vinced that  the  former  "lady"  was  gone  forever  and 
that  from  now  on  she  was  only  an  actress  in  a  miser- 
able provincial  theatre,  and  the  position  of  a  Russian 
actress  was  not  far  removed  from  that  of  a  street 
woman.  Until  now  she  had  lived  as  if  in  a  dream. 
She  would  go  out  half -naked  in  Fair  Helen,  would  ap- 
pear intoxicated  in  Pericola,  would  sing  all  sorts  of 
indecencies  in  the  Episodes  from  the  Life  of  the 
Duchess  of  Herolstein,  and  would  even  regret  that  it 
was  not  the  custom  to  represent  la  chose  and  Vamour 
on  the  stage,  imagining  how  enticingly  her  hips  would 
quiver  and  how  alluring  her  every  movement  would 
be.  But  it  had  never  occurred  to  her  to  give  earnest 
thought  to  what  she  was  doing.  She  had  only  tried 
to  make  everything  appear  "charming"  and  chic  and 
at  the  same  time  please  the  army  officers  of  the  town 
regiment.  But  what  it  all  meant,  and  what  the  sensa- 
tion was  that  her  quivering  hips  produced  in  the  army 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  251 

officers,  she  did  not  consider.  The  army  officers  were 
the  element  that  set  the  tone  for  the  town,  and  she  real- 
ized that  her  success  depended  upon  them.  They  would 
intrude  behind  the  scenes,  would  unceremoniously 
knock  at  the  door  of  her  dressing-room  when  she  was 
yet  half -clad,  would  address  her  in  endearing  terms — 
and  she  looked  upon  it  all  as  a  simple  formality,  an 
inevitable  feature  incidental  to  her  profession.  All  she 
asked  herself  was  whether  she  rendered  a  feature 
"charmingly"  or  not. 

Until  now  she  had  not  thought  of  her  body  or  her 
soul  as  being  public,  but  for  a  moment  feeling  herself 
a  "lady"  again,  she  looked  on  her  past  in  utter  disgust 
and  abhiin=ence,  as  if  she  had  been  stripped  naked  and 
were  being  exposed  on  the  public  square;  as  if  all 
those  vile  creatures  infected  with  the  odors  of  wine  and 
the  stable  had  suddenly  gripped  her  in  their  embrace, 
as  her  body  felt  the  contact  of  hands  moist  with  per- 
spiration, of  slabbery  lips  and  the  dull,  greedy,  brutal 
eyes  that  lingered  animal-like  over  the  curved  lines  of 
her  nude  body. 

Where  was  she  to  go?  How  was  she  to  throw  off 
that  accumulatedJoadT  which  began  to  leave  its  mark 
on  her  shoulders?  The  question  tossed  in  her  head 
desperately — tossed,  indeed,  for  she  neither  found  nor, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  sought  an  answer.  This  stay  in 
Golovliovo,  too,  was  a  kind  of  dream.  Her  past  life 
had  been  a  dream,  and  her  present  awakening  was  a 
dream.  Something  had  made  the  little  girl  ill  at  ease, 
and  she  had  become  sentimental — that  was  all.  It 
would  pass.  There  are  pleasant  moments  and  there 
are  unpleasant  ones — that  is  how  they  go.  Both 
merely  glide  past  but  do  not  alter  the  course  of  life 
once  determined  upon.     To  give  life  a  new  course,  to 


252  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

jdiYCPt  its  channel,  one  needs  not  only  moral  but  also 
physical  courage.  It  is  almostthe  same  as  suicide. 
Before  attempting  suicide  a  manrnaytTenounce  his  life, 
he  may  be  certain  that  death  is  the  only  salvation,  yet 
the  weapon  of  death  trembles  in  his  hands,  the  knife 
slides  harmlessly  over  the  neck,  the  bullet,  instead  of 
striking  the  forehead,  hits  lower  and  only  cripples. 
That  is  what  happened  in  Anninka's  case.  She  had  to 
kill  her  former  life,  but  though  killing  it,  she  herself 
had  to  remain  alive.  The  ''nothingness"  that  in  reg- 
ular suicide  is  attained  by  merely  pressing  the  trigger, 
was  to  be  attained  in  the  peculiar  suicide  called  reju- 
venation only  after  many  stern  almost  ascetic  efforts. 
A  pampered  person  already  undermined  by  the 
habit  of  easy  living  will  turn  dizzy  at  the  mere  perspec- 
tive of  a  rejuvenation.  He  instinctively  turns  his 
head  away  and  shuts  his  eyes.  Then  filled  with  shame 
and  accusing  himself  of  lack  of  courage,  he  will  take 
the  easy  way  again. 
У  Oh,  the  life  of  toil  is  a  glorious  thing!  Yet  none 
but  strong  people  can  live  it  and  those  who  are  destined 
for  it  because  of  original  sin.  They  are  the  only 
ones  it  does  not  frighten;  the  former  because  they 
realize  the  significance  and  resources  of  toil  and  can 
find  pleasure  in  it;  the  latter,  because  to  them  toil  is 
first  a  duty,  then  a  habit. 

Anninka  did  not  think  of  remaining  at  Golovliovo 
or  Pogorelka  for  even  a  moment.  In  this  she  was  for- 
tified by  the  business  routine  of  her  circumstances,  to 
which  she  clung  instinctively.  She  had  been  given  leave 
of  absence  and  had  arranged  her  schedule  ahead  of 
time,  even  designating  the  day  on  which  she  was  to 
leave  Golovliovojjfp^or  people  of  weak  wills  the  ex- 
ternal checks  upon  their  life  considerably  lighten  its 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  253 

burdens.  In  difficult  cases  they  cling  to  them  instinc- 
tively and  use  them  as  a  justification  for  their  acts. 

Anninka  decided  to  leave  Golovliovo  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  if  uncle  persisted  in  his  coaxing,  to 
counter  him  by  invoking  the  necessity  of  reporting 
for  duty  on  the  set  date. 

When  she  arose  in  the  morning  she  walked  leisurely 
through  all  the  rooms  of  the  vast  Golovliovo  mansion. 
She  found  them  dreary,  yiiimati«g,  deserted.  There 
was  an  air  of  decay  and  haunting  unfriendliness  about 
them.  The  thought  of  living  there  indefinitely  quite 
frightened  her.  ''Never!"  she  kept  repeating  in  a 
state  of  inexplicable  agitation,  "Never!" 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  next  day  Porfiry  yiadimirych  greeted  her  again 
with  his  ambiguous  geniality,  from  which  it  was  im- 
possible to  gather  whether  he  wanted  to  show  her 
affection  or  suck  her  blood  dry. 

"Well,  you  'always-in-a-hurry-to-get-there,'  did  you 
sleep  well?  And  where  are  you  hurrying  to  now?" 
he  asked  her  jestingly. 

"Yes,  uncle,  I  am  in  a  hurry,  indeed.  I  am  on  leave 
of  absence,  you  know,  and  I  must  report  on  time." 

"Is  it  to  play  the  clown  again  ?     I  won4  let  you." 

"Whether  you  let  me  or  not,  I  am  going." 

Yudushka  shook  his  head  sadly.  "And  what  would 
your  deceased  grandma  say?"  he  asked  in  a  tone  of 
kindly  reproach. 

"Grandma  knew  about  it  when  she  was  alive.  But 
why  do  you  use  those  expressions,  uncle?  Yesterday 
you  were  sending  me  to  the  fairs  with  a  guitar  and  to- 
day you  speak  of  playing  the  clown.  I  won't  allow 
you  to  talk  like  that  to  me,  you  hear?" 

"Eh-eh!  The  truth  hurts!  Well,  and  I  like  the 
truth.    I  think  that  if  the  truth " 

"No,  no,  I  won't  listen,  I  won't  listen.  I  don't 
want  your  truth  or  your  untruth.  Do  you  hear  me? 
I  don't  want  you  to  talk  like  that  to  me." 

"Well,  well!  Look  at  her  flaring  up!  Oh,  you 
romp!     Suppose  we  go  in  to  tea  while  the  drinking 

254 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  255 

is  good.  I  suppose  the  samovar  is  making  music  on 
the  table  by  now." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  wanted  by  joke  and  jest  to 
make  amends  for  having  said  "playing  the  clown," 
and  even  tried  to  embrace  her  as  a  sign  of  reconcilia- 
tion. But  it  all  seemed  so  stupid  to  Anninka,  so 
abominable,  that  she  declined  his  advance  with  repug- 
nance. 

"I  tell  you  seriously,  uncle,  I  am  in  a  hurry,"  she 
said. 

"Well,  then,  let's  go  and  have  tea  first,  then  we'll 
talk." 

"But  why  talk  after  tea?     Why  not  now?" 

"Because.  Because  everything  has  got  to  be  done 
in  its  proper  time.  First  one,  then  the  other,  first 
we'll  have  tea  and  a  chat,  then  we'll  talk  business. 
Plenty  of  time." 

She  could  not  help  but  yield.  His  prattle  was  not 
to  be  overcome.  They  went  in  to  tea,  and  Yudushka 
temporized  maliciously,  sipping  his  tea  with  delibera- 
tion, crossing  himself,  slapping  his  thigh,  babbling 
about  his  late  mother  dear,  and  so  on. 

"Well,  now  we  can  talk,"  he  said  at  last.  "Do  you 
intend  making  a  long  visit  here?" 

"Not  more  than  a  week.  I  have  to  be  in  Moscow 
before  returning  to  the  company." 

"A  week  is  a  long  time,  my  dear.  You  can  accom- 
plish a  lot  in  a  week,  and  you  can  accomplish  little. 
It  depends  on  how  you  go  about  it." 

"We'd  better  try  and  accomplish  a  great  deal, 
uncle.'* 

"That's  just  what  I  say.  You  can  do  a  lot  and  you 
can  do  little,  and  sometimes  you  think  you  are  doing 
little  but  before  you  look  around,  all  the  work  is  at- 


256  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

tended  to.  Here,  for  instance,  you  are  in  a  hurry  to  go 
to  Moscow,  you've  got  business  there,  you  say;  and 
what  the  business  is,  you  yourself  don't  know,  I  dare 
say.  But  the  way  I  look  on  it  is  this,  that  you  spend 
all  your  time  here  in  real  business  instead  of  going  to 
Moscow." 

*'No,  I  must  go  to  Moscow  because  I  want  to  see  if 
I  can't  get  on  the  stage  there.  And  as  to  business, 
didn't  you  say  we  could  accomplish  a  lot  in  a  week?" 
"Depending  on  how  you  go  about  it,  my  friend. 
If  you  go  about  it  properly,  all  will  be  well  and 
smooth,  but  if  you  don't  go  about  it  in  a  proper  way, 
well,  you'll  strike  a  snag,  and  the  thing  will  drag  on." 
''Well,  you  guide  me,  uncle." 

'That's  just  it.  When  in  need  then  'You  guide  me, 
uncle,'  but  when  not  in  need,  then  'It's  dull  here, 
uncle,  and  I  want  to  go  away.'  You  can't  say  I'm  not 
right." 

"But  please  do  tell  me  just  what  I  am  to  do." 
"Wait,  don't  be  in  a  hurry!  So,  as  I  was  saying, 
when  uncle  is  needed,  he  is  a  dear  and  darling  and 
a  sweety,  and  when  he  is  not  needed  he  is  no  good. 
But  you  would  never  trust  your  uncle  and  ask  him, 
'What  do  you  think,  uncle  dear,  ought  I  to  go  to  Mos- 
cow or  not?'  " 

"How  funny  you  are,  uncle!  I  must  go  to  Mos- 
cow, and  suppose  I  ask  your  advice  and  you  say  no?" 
"Well,  if  I  say  no,  then  stay  here!  It  is  not 
a  stranger  who  says  so.  It's  your  uncle,  and  you  may 
as  well  take  your  own  uncle's  advice.  Oh,  my  friend ! 
It's  a  good  thing  you've  got  an  uncle.  At  least  there 
is  somebody  to  feel  with  you  and  to  warn  you  when 
necessary.  Think  of  others  who  have  nobody.  No- 
body to  feel  with  them,  nobody  to  warn  them.     And 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  257 

they  live  all  by  themselves.  And  things  happen  to 
them — many  things  that  happen  in  life,  my  dear." 

Anninka  wanted  to  reply,  but  realized  it  would  be 
adding  fuel  to  the  fire,  and  remained  silent.  She  sat 
there,  her  eyes  turned  despairingly  at  her  uncle,  who 
was  going  ahead  under  full  steam. 

"I  wanted  to  tell  you,"  Yudushka  continued,  "I 
don't  like  your  going  to  those  fairs,  no,  I  don't  like  it 
a  bit.  Though  you  didn't  relish  my  talking  about 
guitars,  I  still  must  say — " 

*'But  it  is  not  enpugh  to  say  *I  don't  like.'  Show 
me  a  way  out." 

"Stay  with  me.     That's  the  way  out." 

''No,  that  never !" 

"Why?" 

"Because  I  have  nothing  to  do  here.  What  can  I 
do  here?  Get  up  in  the  morning,  have  tea,  at  tea 
think  that  breakfast  is  coming,  at  breakfast  think 
about  dinner,  and  at  dinner  about  afternoon  tea. 
Then  supper  and  then  to  sleep.  No,  one  can  die 
here." 

"They  all  do  it,  my  friend.  First  people  have  tea, 
after  tea  those  who  like  to  breakfast  do  so.  I,  for 
instance,  don't  like  to  have  breakfast,  so  I  don't. 
Then  dinner,  then  afternoon  tea,  then  to  bed.  Well, 
I  don't  see  anything  ridiculous  or  objectionable  in  it. 
But  if  I—" 

"Nothing  objectionable ;  but  it  is  not  after  my 
heart." 

"But  if  I  had  offended  somebody,  or  misjudged  or 
spoken  ill,  well,  then,  really  it  would  be  objectionable. 
But  to  have  tea  and  breakfast  and  dinner — goodness! 
I  guess,  no  matter  how  clever  you  are,  you  can't  get 
along  without  food." 


258  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"Yes,  well  and  good,  but  it  is  not  after  my  heart." 
"But  don't  measure  things  by  your  own  yardstick. 
Take  the  advice  of  your  elders.  This  I  like,  and  that 
I  don't  like/  Now,  you  mustn't  talk  that  way !  You 
ought  to  say  instead,  *If  it  please  God,  or  'if  it  does 
not  please  God'.  That  would  be  the  proper  kind  of 
talk.  Let's  say,  for  instance,  in  Golovliovo  we  don't 
live  according  to  God,  if  we  go  against  Him,  if  we 
sin  or  question  His  wisdom,  if  we  envy  and  do  other 
evil  things,  well,  then  we  are  really  guilty  and  de- 
serve to  be  blamed.  But  here,  too,  it  would  have  to 
be  proved  first  that  we  really  do  not  act  according  to 
God.  And  you  come  and  say,  'It  is  not  my  style.' 
Now,  take  me  as  an  example.  There  are  many  things 
that  aren't  my  style.  Here,  for  instance,  I  don't  like 
the  way  you  talk  to  me,  the  way  you  pooh-pooh  my 
hospitality.  Yet  I  keep  mum.  I  want  to  persuade  you 
in  a  quiet  way,  maybe  you'll  come  to  your  senses. 
Maybe  while  I  am  jesting  and  talking  lightly,  along 
will  come  your  guardian  angel  and  lead  you  along  the 
right  path.  You  know,  my  friend,  I  am  solicitous 
not  of  my  welfare,  but  of  yours.  Ah,  my  friend,  how 
bad  of  you!  If,  so  to  speak,  I  had  offended  you  by 
word  or  deed,  well,  then  you  would  have  reason  to 
complain.  Though  it  behooves  young  people  to  heed 
even  a  sermon  when  it  comes  from  their  elders,  yet 
had  I  offended  you,  I  wouldn't  mind  your  being  angry. 
But  here  I  am  calm  and  quiet  and  easy.  I  don't  say 
a  word,  but  only  try  to  figure  out  how  to  make  things 
better  and  more  comfortable  for  you  and  for  others 
so  that  all  may  rejoice  and  be  happy.  And  look  how 
you  greet  my  kindness!  What  you  want  to  do,  my 
dear,  is  not  to  be  rash  in  your  speech.     First  think. 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  259 

then  pray  to  the  Lord  and  implore  His  guidance. 
And  then  if,  let's  say  for  example — " 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  expatiated  in  this  strain  for  a 
long  time.     Hi^ЗJ£ll:4s--floадшdЛikethiclL_^  An- 

ninka  looked  at  him  with  instincHveTear  and  thought. 
"How  is  it  that  the  gush  of  words  does  not  choke  him  ?" 
And  for  all  his  talk,  her  dear  uncle  did  not  utter  a 
word  of  advice  as  to  what  she  was  to  do  in  connection 
with  the  death  of  Arina  Petrovna.  She  tried  to 
bring  the  matter  up  at  dinner  and  later  at  afternoon 
tea,  but  every  time  Yudushka  spun  a  different  web,  so 
that  Anninka  was  sorry  she  had  resumed  the  conversa- 
tion, and  thought  in  anguish,  "Will  it  ever  end  ?" 

After  dinner,  when  Porfiry  Vladimirych  retired  for 
his  afternoon  nap,  Anninka  remained  alone  with  Yev- 
praksia  and  suddenly  felt  a  desire  to  have  a  talk  with 
her  uncle's  housekeeper. 

She  wanted  to  know  why  Yevpraksia  did  not  find 
it  horrible  to  live  at  Golovliovo  and  what  gave  her  the 
strength  to  endure  the  torrents  of  meaningless  words 
that  uncle's  mouth  belched  forth  from  morning  to 
night. 

"Do  you  find  it  dull  here  at  Golovliovo,  Yevprak- 
sia?" 

"Why  should  we  find  it  dull?  We  are  not  of  the 
gentlefolk." 

"But  still — always  alone — no  diversion,  no  pleas- 
ures— " 

"What  pleasures  do  I  need  ?  When  it's  dull,  I  look 
out  of  the  window.  I  didn't  have  much  merriment 
when  I  lived  with  father." 

"Still,  I  suppose,  it  was  better  at  home.  You  had 
friends,  went  visiting,  played." 

"Ah,  what's  the  use !" 


2бо  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

''And  here  with  uncle.  He  says  such  dull  things 
and  he  is  so  long-winded.     Is  he  always  like  that?" 

"Always,  all  day  long  the  same  way." 

"And  it  doesn't  bore  you?" 

"Why  should  it?     I  don't  listen  to  him." 

"But  it's  impossible  not  to  listen  at  all.  He  may 
notice  it  and  become  offended." 

"How  can  he  tell?  I  look  at  him.  He  keeps  on 
talking  and  I  keep  on  looking  and  at  the  same  time  I 
think  my  own  thoughts." 

"What  do  you  generally  think  about?" 

"Different  things.  If  I  have  to  pickle  gherkins,  I 
think  about  gherkins.  If  I  have  to  send  someone  to 
town,  I  think  about  town.  Whatever  the  household 
needs,  that's  what  Г  think  about." 

"So,  I  see,  you  live  with  uncle,  but  you  are  always 
alone?" 

"Yes,  as  good  as  alone.  Unless  he  sometimes 
wishes  to  play  cards.  Well,  then  we  play  cards.  But 
even  then  he  often  stops  in  the  middle  of  the  game, 
puts  the  cards  away  and  begins  to  talk.  And  I  look  at 
him.  It  was  much  livelier  when  Arina  Petrovna  was 
alive.  When  she  was  around  he  was  afraid  to  talk 
too  much,  because  the  old  woman  would  often  cut  him 
short.     But  now  the  liberties  he  takes  are  the  limit." 

"Well,  you  see,  Yevpraksia,  that's  just  the  horror 
of  it.  It  is  frightful  when  a  man  talks  and  does  not 
know  what  he  says,  луЬу  he  talks  and  whether  he'll 
ever  get  through.     Doesn't  it  scare  you?" 

Yevpraksia  looked  at  her  as  if  struck  by  a  new, 
wonderful  idea. 

"You're  not  the  only  one,"  she  said.  "Many  people 
around  here  don't  like  him  for  the  same  thing." 

"Is  that  so?" 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  261 

"Yes.  Even  the  servants.  Not  one  of  them  can 
stay  here  long.  He  changes  them  almost  every  month. 
The  clerks,   too.     And  all  on  account  of  that." 

"He  annoys  them  ?" 

"Terribly.  The  drunkards — they  stay  because 
drunkards  don't  hear.  You  may  blow  a  bugle,  but 
it's  as  if  they  had  their  ears  stuffed.  But  the  trouble 
is,  he  doesn't  like  drunkards." 

"Oh,  Yevpraksia,  and  he  is  trying  to  persuade  me 
to  stay  here." 

"Well,  madam,  it  really  would  be  nice  of  you  to 
stay  a  while.  Maybe  in  your  presence  he  would  be 
ashamed." 

"No.  Thank  you.  I  haven't  the  patience  to  look  at 
him." 

"Yes,  of  course,  you  are  of  the  gentlefolk.  You  can 
liave  your  own  way,  and  at  that  I  suppose  you've  got 
to  dance  to  somebody's  music." 

"Oh,  I  should  say  so." 

"Yes,  I  thought  so.  I  meant  to  ask  you  another 
thing.     Is  it  nice  to  be  an  actress?" 

"You  earn  your  own  bread  and  butter.  That's  one 
good  thing." 

"And  is  it  true,  as  Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  telling 
me,  that  strangers  embrace  actresses  about  the  waist?" 

Anninka  flushed  up  an  instant. 

"Porfiry  Vladimirych  does  not  understand,"  she 
said  with  irritation.  "That's  луЬу  he  talks  nonsense. 
He  seems  to  have  no  notion  that  it's  only  play  and 
not  reality  on  the  stage." 

"And  yet,  even  he,  that  is,  Porfiry  Vladimirych, 
when  he  saw  you  first,  his  mouth  began  to  water.  'My 
niece,'  and  'dear,'  and  'darling,'  like  a  gay  blade.  And 
his  shameless  eyes  just  devour  you." 


2б2  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEW 

**Yevpraksia,  why  do  you  talk  nonsense?" 

"I?  Oh,  I  don't  care.  You  stay  here  and  you'll 
see.  And  I — I  don't  care.  I'll  give  up  my  position 
and  go  back  to  father.  It's  dull  here,  anyway,  you 
were  right  about  it." 

"It  is  silly  for  you  to  suppose  that  I  am  going  to 
stay  here.  But  you're  right  about  one  thing,  Golovliovo 
certainly  is  a  dull  place.  And  the  longer  you  stay  here 
the  duller  ycu  feel." 

Yevpraksia  turned  pensive,  then  yawned  and  said: 

"When  I  stayed  with  father  I  was  very,  very  slim. 
Now,  you  see  how  stout  I  am,  like  an  oven.  So  dull- 
ness does  one  good,  after  all." 

"You  won't  stand  it  long,  anyway.  Remember  what 
I  say — you  won't." 

With  this  the  conversation  ended. 

Luckily  Porfiry  Vladimirych  did  not  hear  it,  other- 
wise he  would  have  obtained  a  new  and  fruitful  theme 
for  his  endless  sermonizing. 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  tortured  Anninka  for  two  whole 
days.  He  kept  on  saying,  "Wait,  don't  be  in  a  hurry ! 
Quietly,  easily.  Say  your  prayers  and  receive  your 
benediction,"  and  so  on.  He  tired  her  to  death.  Fi- 
nally, on  the  fifth  day,  he  was  ready  lo  go  to  town 
with  her,  though  he  found  another  way  of  tormenting 
his  dear  niece. 

She  was  in  her  fur  coat  waiting  for  him  in  the 
vestibule,  and  he,  as  if  to  spite  her,  lingered  a  whole 
hour,  dressing  and  washing  and  clapping  his  thighs 
and  crossing  himself,  and  walking  back  and  forth,  and 
sitting  down,  and  giving  orders.  "Here—,  or  see  to 
it — you  know  what  I  mean.  See  that  nothing  hap- 
pens— you  know." 

He  behaved  as  if  he  were  leaving  Golovliovo  not  for 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  263 

a  few  hours,  but  forever.  Having  tired  everybody 
out,  the  men  and  horses  who  had  been  waiting  at  the 
porch  for  an  hour  and  a  half,  his  own  throat  at  last 
got  dry  from  gabbling,  and  he  decided  to  start  out. 

The  entire  affair  in  town  was  concluded  while  the 
horses  were  eating  their  oats  at  the  inn.  Porfiry  Vladi- 
mirych  produced  an  account  book,  from  which  it  ap- 
peared that  when  Arina  Petrovna  died  the  orphans 
had  twenty  thousand  rubles  or  a  trifle  less  in  five  per 
cent  securities.  Then  the  petition  to  remove  the  guard- 
ianship was  filed,  along  with  the  papers  testifying  to 
the  majority  of  the  orphans,  and  the  order  was  im- 
mediately issued  to  remove  the  guardianship  and  trans- 
fer both  capital  and  land  to  the  rightful  owners.  In 
the  evening  of  the  same  day  Anninka  signed  all  the 
papers  and  inventories  that  Yudusha  had  prepared  and 
when  all  was  done,  heaved  a  sigh  of  relief. 

The  remaining  few  days  Anninka  spent  in  the  great- 
est agitation.  She  wanted  to  leave  Golovliovo  at  once, 
but  her  uncle  met  her  attempts  with  a  jest,  which, 
good-natured  as  it  sounded,  screened  a  stupid  obstin- 
acy that  no  human  power  could  overcome. 

"You  yourself  said  you  were  going  to  stay  a  week. 
Then  stay,'*  he  said.  "I  don't  understand  why  you  are 
in  such  a  hurry.  You  don't  have  to  pay  rent,  you  are 
луекоте  without  pay.  You  will  have  tea  and  dinner 
and  anything  your  heart  may  desire." 

"But,  uncle,  I  must  go,"  Anninka  pleaded. 

"You  are  on  pins  and  needles,  but  I  am  not  going 
to  give  you  horses,"  jested  Yudushka.  "I  just  won't 
give  you  horses,  and  you'll  have  to  be  my  prisoner. 
When  the  week  is  up,  I  won't  say  a  word.  We'll  at- 
tend mass,  and  have  a  bite,  and  some  tea,  and  a  chat, 
and  we'll  take  a  good  look  at  each  other,  and  then — 


2б4  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

God  speed  you!  But,  see  here,  suppose  we  visit  the 
grave  at  Voplino  again.  It  would  be  best  to  take  leave 
of  your  grandmother,  you  know.  Maybe  her  soul  will 
be  of  guidance  to  you." 

"I  shouldn't  mind  it,"  Anninka  consented. 

"So  that's  what  we'll  do.  Early  in  the  morning 
on  Wednesday  we'll  attend  mass  here,  then  we'll  have 
a  bite  before  you  go,  and  then  my  team  will  take  you 
to  Pogorelka.  From  there  to  Dvoriky  you  will  go  with 
your  own  team.  You  are  a  landlady  yourself,  I  dare 
say.    You've  got  your  own  horses." 

She  had  to  consent.  There  is  something  tremen- 
dously powerful  in  vulgarity.  It  catches  a  person  un- 
awares, and  while  he  is  staring  in  bewilderment,  it  has 
him  in  its  clutches.  When  we  pass  a  cesspool  we  close 
our  noses  and  try  not  to  breathe.  We  have  to  do  the 
same  violence  to  ourselves  in  an  atmosphere  saturated 
with  idle  chatter  and  vulgarity,  deaden  our  sight,  hear- 
ing, smell  and  taste,  overcome  all  sensibility,  turn  into 
stone.  Otherwise  we  run-t-he- danger  of  "suffocation 
from  the  miasma  of  vulgarity. 

Anninka  understood  this,  a  bit  late,  perhaps.  At  any 
rate,  she  decided  to  let  the  process  of  her  liberation 
from  the  Golovliovo  captivity  take  its  own  course.  She 
was  so  thoroughly  overcome  by  Yudushka's  irresistible 
twaddle  that  she  dared  not  resist  when  he,  like  a  good 
relative,  embraced  her  and  stroked  her  back,  saying 
as  he  did  so : 

''You  see,  now  you  are  a  good  little  girl." 

She  recoiled  instinctively  at  the  touch  of  his  tremb- 
ling bony  hand  creeping  over  her  back,  but  was  held 
back  from  any  other  expression  of  loathing  by  the  hope 
that  he  might  release  her  when  the  week  was  up. 

Luckily  for  her  Yudushka  was  not  at  all  squeamish. 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  265 

He  perhaps  observed  her  impatient  gestures  but  paid 
no  attention  to  them.  Evidently  he  adhered  to  the 
theory  of  sexual  relationship  epitomized  in  the  saying, 
"Kiss  me,  whether  you  love  me  or  not." 

At  last  came  the  long  expected  day  of  departure. 
Anninka  rose  at  about  six  o'clock,  but  Yudushka  was 
already  up  and  about.  He  had  already  performed  the 
ceremonial  of  his  morning  prayers,  and  was  saunter- 
ing from  room  to  room  in  dressing-gown  and  slippers 
without  any  plan  or  purpose.  He  was  visibly  agitated, 
and  when  he  met  Anninka  looked  at  her  askew.  It 
was  almost  full  daylight,  but  the  weather  was  bad. 
The  sky  was  covered  with  massive  dark  clouds,  from 
which  a  chilling  sleet  was  drizzling.  The  road  along 
the  hamlet  had  turned  black  and  was  full  of  puddles — 
a  forecast  of  roads  impassable  because  of  the  thaw.  A 
strong  south  wind  was  blowing,  another  indication  of 
thawing  weather.  The  trees  had  cast  off  their  snowy  \\ 
mantles,  and  their  nude  wet  tops  swayed  drearily.  The  |  \ 
barns  in  the  yard^  looked  black  and  slimy.  Porfiry 
Vladimirych  led  Anninka  to  the  window  and  pointed 
out  the  picture  of  spring's  awakening. 

"Does  it  really  pay  to  go?"  he  asked.  "Would  it 
not  be  better  to  stay,  after  all?" 

"Oh  no,  no !"  she  cried  in  a  frightened  voice.  "The 
bad  weather  will  soon  be  over." 

"Hardly.  If  you  start  now  I  doubt  if  you  will  reach 
Pogorelka  before  seven  o'clock.  And  in  this  thawing 
weather  you  cannot  travel  at  night,  you  know.  So 
you'll  have  to  spend  a  night  at  Pogorelka  anyway." 

"Oh,  no!  I'll  travel  at  night.  I'll  leave  at  once. 
I  am  brave,  you  know.  And  wait  till  one  o'clock? 
Uncle,  darling!    Let  me  leave  at  once." 

"And  what  would  grandma  say?     That's  the  kind 


2бб  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

of  granddaughter  I  have !'  she'll  say.  'She  came  here, 
romped  about,  and  wouldn't  even  come  to  ask  my  bless- 
mg. 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  stopped.  For  a  while  he 
shifted  from  one  foot  to  the  other,  then  looked  at  Ann- 
inka,  then  lowered  his  eyes.  Apparently  he  was  mak- 
ing up  his  mind  about  something. 

"Wait,  Г11  show  you  something,"  he  said  at  last, 
took  a  folded  note  from  his  pocket  and  gave  it  to 
Anninka.     "Here,  read  this.'' 

Anninka  read : 

"I  was  praying  to-day,  and  I  asked  my  good,  kind 
God  to  leave  me  my  good  little  Anninka.  And  the 
good,  kind  God  said.  Tut  your  arm  around  good  little 
Anninka's  plump  waist  and  press  her  close  to  your 
heart.' " 

"Yes?"  he  asked  turning  slightly  pale. 

"Fi,  how  nasty!"  she  answered,  looking  at  him  in 
bewilderment. 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  turned  still  paler  and  hissed 
through  his  teeth: 

"I  suppose,  we  must  have  hussars!"  then  crossed 
himself  and  shuffled  out  of  the  room. 

In  about  fifteen  minutes  he  returned  and  resumed 
his  jesting  as  if  nothing  had  happened. 

"Well  ?"  he  asked.  "Are  you  going  to  stop  at  Vop- 
lino?  Will  you  go  and  say  good-by  to  your  old 
granny  ?  Do,  my  dear,  do.  It  is  very  good  of  you  to 
have  thought  of  your  grandma.  Never  forget  your 
kinsfolk,  my  dear,  especially  those  who,  in  a  manner 
of  speaking,  were  willing  to  die  for  us." 

They  attended  the  mass  and  requiem  services,  ate 
some  kutya  in  the  church,  then  came  home,  ate  some 
more  kutya  and  sat  down  at  the  tea  table.     Porfiry 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  267 

Vladimirych,  as  if  to  spite  her,  sipped  his  tea  more 
slowly  than  usual,  and  dragged  his  words  out  weari- 
somely, discoursing  in  the  intervals  between  gulps. 
About  ten  o'clock  they  finished  tea,  and  Anninka  said 
imploringly : 

"May  I  leave  now,  uncle?" 

"And  what  about  a  bite  ?  What  about  dinner  ?  Did 
you  really  think  your  uncle  would  let  you  leave  on  an 
empty  stomach?  Nay,  nay.  We  are  not  used  to  such 
things  at  Golovliovo.  Why,  mother  dear  would  have 
refused  to  look  at  me  again  if  she  knew  I  let  my  own 
niece  go  without  a  morsel.  Don't  dare  think  of  it. 
Why,  it's  impossible." 

Again  she  had  to  surrender.  An  hour  and  a  half 
passed,  but  there  were  no  signs  of  preparation  for  din- 
ner. Everybody  was  going  about  his  business.  Yev- 
praksia,  her  bunch  of  keys  jingling,  was  seen  in  the 
yard  darting  between  the  pantry  and  the  cellar.  Por- 
firy  Vladimirych  was  explaining  things  to  his  clerk, 
wearying  him  with  meaningless  orders  and  incessantly 
slapping  his  own  thighs  in  an  effort  to  while  away  the 
time.  Anninka,  left  to  herself,  walked  up  and  down 
the  dining-room,  looked  at  the  clock,  counted  her  steps, 
then  the  ticks  of  the  clock — one,  two,  three.  At  times 
she  glanced  out  of  the  window  and  noticed  the  puddles 
were  growing  larger  and  larger. 

Finally  knives,  forks  and  plates  began  to  rattle.  The 
butler  Stepan  entered  the  dining-room  and  spread  a 
cloth  upon  the  table.  It  seemed  as  if  a  part  of  Yudush- 
ka's  idle  bustle  had  communicated  itself  to  him.  He 
shuffled  the  plates  sluggishly,  breathed  on  the  drink- 
ing glasses,  and  examined  them,  holding  them  up  to  the 
light.    Dinner  began  just  at  one  o'clock. 

"Well,    so   you   are   going,"    Porfiry   Vladimirych 


2б8  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

opened  the  conversation,  in  a  manner  befitting  the  oc- 
casion. Before  him  was  a  plate  of  soup,  but  he  did  not 
touch  it.  He  looked  at  Anninka  so  affectionately  that 
the  tip  of  his  nose  turned  red. 

Anninka  swallowed  her  soup  hastily.  At  last  he 
took  up  his  spoon  and  dipped  it  in  the  soup,  but  changed 
his  mind,  and  placed  it  back  on  the  tablecloth. 

"I  am  an  old  man,  you'll  have  to  pardon  me,"  he  be- 
gan nagging,  "you  swallowed  your  soup  in  a  gulp,  but 
I  must  take  it  slowly.  I  don't  like  it  when  people  are 
careless  with  God's  gifts.  God  gave  us  bread  for  sus- 
tenance, and  look  how  much  of  it  you  have  wasted. 
Look  at  all  the  crumbs  you  scattered.  Altogether,  I 
like  to  do  things  thoroughly  and  carefully.  It  comes 
out  safer  in  the  end.  Maybe  it  annoys  you  that  I  am 
not  quick  enough,  that  I  can't  jump  through  a  hoop, 
or  whatever  you  call  it.  Well,  what  can  I  do?  If  you 
feel  like  being  annoyed,  go  ahead.  I  know  you  will 
be  cross  a  little  while  and  then  forgive  the  old  man. 
Remember,  you  are  not  going  to  be  young  always. 
You  will  not  be  jumping  through  hoops  all  of  your  life. 
Life  will  give  you  experience  and  teach  you  wisdom. 
Then  you  will  say,  'Maybe  uncle  was  right  after  all.' 
So,  my  dear,  now  while  you  listen  to  me,  you  probably 
think,  'Uncle  is  no  good.  Uncle  is  an  old  grouch.' 
But  if  you  live  to  my  old  age,  you'll  pipe  a  different 
tune.  You'll  say.  Uncle  was  nice.  Uncle  was  a  dear. 
Uncle  taught  me  right.'  " 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  crossed  himself  and  swallowed 
two  spoonfuls  of  soup,  then  put  his  spoon  down  and 
leaned  back  in  his  chair  as  a  sign  of  an  ensuing  mono- 
logue. 

"Bloodsucker!"  was  on  the  tip  of  her  tongue,  but 
she  pulled  herself  up,  poured  out  a  glass  of  water,  and 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  269 

drank  it  at  a  gulp.    Yudushka  sensed  her  mental  state. 

**So,  you  don't  like  it?  Well,  like  it  or  not,  yon'd 
better  take  uncle's  advice.  I've  been  long  meaning  to 
talk  to  you  about  your  hasty  way  of  doing  things,  but 
I  could  not  find  the  time  to  do  it.  I  don't  like  that 
haste  in  you.  There  is  fickleness  in  it,  a  lack  of  judg- 
ment. When  you  left  your  old  grandmother,  you  had 
no  business  to  leave  her  and  cause  the  old  woman  anx- 
iety.    I  really  don't  see  why  you  did  it." 

''Oh,  uncle,  why  recall  it?  It's  done.  It  isn't  kind 
of  you." 

''Wait.  That's  not  the  point  I'm  making — kind  or 
unkind — what  I  want  to  say  is  that  even  when  a  thing 
has  been  done,  it  can  be  undone,  or  done  all  over  again. 
Not  only  we  mortals,  but  even  God  alters  His  deeds. 
Now  He  sends  rain,  now  He  sends  fair  weather.  So, 
suppose — really,  the  theatre  isn't  a  good  place — sup- 
pose you  decide  to  stay." 

"No,  uncle,  let's  not  speak  about  it,  I  beg  of  you.'* 

"And  there's  another  thing  I  want  to  tell  you.  Your 
fickleness  is  bad  enough,  but  what  is  still  worse  is  the 
way  you  slight  the  advice  of  your  elders.  I  speak  for 
your  own  good  and  you  say,  'Let's  not  speak  about  it.' 
Uncle  is  kind  and  tender,  and  you  snap  at  him.  But 
do  you  know  who  gave  you  your  uncle  ?  Well,  tell  me 
—who?" 

Anninka  looked  at  him  in  perplexity. 

"God  gave  you  your  uncle,  that  is  w^ho.  God  did 
it.  If  not  for  God,  you  would  now  be  all  alone  in  the 
world,  you  would  not  know  how  to  manage  things, 
or  how  to  file  a  petition  or  where  to  file  it,  and  what  to 
expect  from  it.  You  would  Ы  lost  in  the  woods.  Any- 
body could  deceive  you,  abuse  you  or  even  disgrace 
you.     You  see?     And  with  the  aid  of  God  and  your 


270  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

uncle  the  whole  deal  went  through  in  one  day.  We 
went  to  town,  and  filed  a  petition  and  got  the  necessary 
mandates.    You  see,  my  dear,  what  uncle  can  do?" 

**Yes,  uncle,  I  am  grateful  to  you." 

''Well,  if  you  are,  don't  snap  at  me,  and  do  as  I  tell 
you.  I  mean  your  good,  though  at  times  it  seems  to 
you  that " 

Anninka  could  hardly  control  herself.  There  was 
one  way  left  to  rid  herself  of  uncle's  sermons — to  feign 
that  in  principle  she  accepted  his  proposal  to  remain 
at  Golovliovo. 

"All  right,  uncle,"  she  said,  "I'll  think  it  over.  I 
myself  feel  it  is  not  quite  proper  to  live  alone,  far  from 
relatives.  But  I  can't  make  up  my  mind  now — I'll 
have  to  think  it  over." 

"Well,  I  am  glad  to  see  you  have  understood  me,  but 
what  is  there  to  think  over?  We'll  have  the  horses 
unhitched,  your  trunks  taken  out  of  the  cart — that's  all 
the  thinking  there  is  to  be  done." 

"No,  uncle,  you  forget  I  have  a  sister." 

Whether  her  argument  convinced  Porfiry  Vlad- 
imirych  or  whether  the  whole  scene  had  been  staged 
for  the  mere  show  of  it,  it  is  hard  to  say.  Porfiry 
Vladimirych  himself  did  not  know  whether  Anninka 
really  ought  to  stay  at  Golovliovo  or  whether  it  was 
simply  a  whim  of  his.  At  any  rate,  from  that  moment 
on  dinner  proceeded  at  a  livelier  pace.  Anninka  agreed 
to  everything  he  said  and  answered  his  questions  in  a 
manner  that  did  not  provoke  much  nagging  and  bab- 
bling. Nevertheless,  the  clock  showed  half  past  two 
when  dinner  was  over.  Anninka  jumped  up  from  the 
table  as  if  she  had  been  sitting  in  a  steam  bath,  and 
ran  to  her  uncle  to  say  good-by. 

In  ten  minutes  Yudushka,  in  his  fur  coat  and  bear- 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  271 

skin  boots,  saw  her  to  the  porch  and  in  person  super- 
vised the  process  of  seating  the  young  mistress  in  the 
pony  cart. 

"Easy  when  you  go  downhill — you  hear?  And  see 
that  you  don't  drop  her  out  at  the  Senkino  slope  !'*  he 
shouted  to  the  driver. 

Finally  Anninka  was  seated,  wrapped  up,  and  the 
leather  cover  of  the  cart  was  fastened. 

"Suppose  you  stay!"  Yudushka  shouted  again, 
wishing  that  in  the  presence  of  the  servants  gathered 
about,  all  go  off  properly  as  befits  good  kinsfolk.  But 
Anninka  already  felt  free,  and  was  suddenly  seized 
with  a  desire  to  play  a  girlish  prank.  She  stood  up 
in  the  cart  and  emphasizing  every  word,  said,  "No, 
uncle,  I  will  not!    You  are  a  fright!" 

Yudushka  pretended  not  to  hear,  but  his  lips  turned 
pale.   . 


CHAPTER  VI 

Anninka  was  so  overjoyed  at  her  liberation  from 
the  Golovliovo  bondage,  that  she  did  not  even  stop  to 
think  of  the  man  who  at  her  departure  lost  all  con- 
tact with  the  world  of  living  beings.  She  thought 
only  of  herself.  She  enjoyed  the  feeling  of  escape. 
And  the  sensation  of  freedom  was  so  strong  that  when 
she  visited  the  grave  at  Voplino  again  there  was  no 
longer  a  trace  of  that  nervous  sensibility  which  she 
had  betrayed  the  first  time.  She  listened  to  the  re- 
quiem quietly,  bowed  before  the  grave  without  shed- 
ding a  tear,  and  quite  willingly  accepted  the  priest's 
invitation  to  have  tea  with  him. 

The  house  of  the  Voplino  priest  was  very  scantily 
furnished.  The  only  room  of  state  in  the  house,  which 
served  as  the  reception  room,  looked  naked  and  dreary. 
Along  the  walls  were  arranged  about  a  dozen  painted 
chairs,  upholstered  with  haircloth,  in  holes  here  and 
there,  and  a  sofa  of  the  same  kind  with  its  back  bulg- 
ing out,  like  the  chest  of  an  old-time  general.  Against 
one  of  the  walls  between  two  windows  stood  a  plain 
table  covered  with  a  soiled  cloth,  on  which  lay  several 
confession  books  of  the  parish.  Fron.  behind  them 
peeped  an  inkpot  with  a  quill  stuck  in  it.  An  image 
case  containing  an  ikon  handed  down  as  a  family  heir- 
loom and  a  burning  ikon  lamp  were  suspended  in  the 
eastern  corner  of  the  room.     Underneath  the  image 

272 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  273 

case  stood  two  trunks  covered  with  a  drab  faded  cloth 
holding  the  family  linen,  the  dowry  of  the  lady  of  the 
house.  The  walls  were  not  papered.  A  few  daguer- 
reotype portraits  of  bishops  hung  in  the  center  of  one 
wall.  There  was  a  peculiar  odor  in  the  room,  as  if 
many  generations  of  flies  and  black  beetles  had  met 
their  fate  there.  The  priest  himself,  though  a  young 
man,  had  become  considerably  faded  amidst  these  sur- 
roundings. His  thin  flaxen  hair  hung  from  his  head 
in  long,  straight  locks,  like  the  boughs  of  a  weeping 
willow.  His  eyes,  once  blue^^were  now  lifeless.  His 
voice  trembled,  his"  beard  had  taken  on  a  wedge-like 
shape,  his  marino  cassock  hung  on  him  loosely.  His 
wife,  also  young,  looked  even  more  faded  than  her 
husband,  because  of  frequent  child  bearing. 

Nevertheless,  Anninka  could  not  help  noticing  that 
even  these  poor  timid,  worn-out  people  looked  upon 
her  not  as  at  a  real  parishioner,  but  in  pity,  as  if  she 
were  a  lost  sheep. 

"You  w^ere  visiting  at  your  uncle's?"  began  the 
priest,  carefully  removing"  a  cup  of  tea  from  the  tray 
held  by  his  wife. 

"Yes,  I  stayed  there  about  a  week." 

"Porfiry  Vladimirych  is  now  the  chief  landowner 
in  the  district,  and  has  the  greatest  power.  But  it 
looks  as  if  luck  is  not  with  him.  First  one  son  died, 
then  the  other,  and  now  his  mother  has  departed.  I 
am  surprised  he  did  not  insist  on  your  staying  with 
him." 

"Uncle  wanted  me  to  stay,  but  I  did  not  care  to." 

"Why  so?" 

"I  prefer  to  live  in  freedom." 

"Freedom,  madam,  is  not  a  bad  thing,  of  course, 
but  it  has  its  dangers.     And  when  you  think  you  are 


274  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

the  nearest  relative  to  Porfiry  Vladimirych,  you  could 
forego  a  bit  of  that  freedom,  I  imagine." 

"No,  father,  one's  own  bread  tastes  better.  It*s 
easier  to  live  when  you  know  you  are  under  no  obli- 
gations to  anyone." 

The  priest  looked  at  her  with  his  extinguished  eyes, 
as  if  he  meant  to  ask,  "Come  now,  do  you  really  know 
what  'one's  own  bread  is?'  "  but  he  had  not  the  cour- 
age to  hurther,  so  he  only  drew  his"'cassock  closer 
about  him^ 

"Do  you  receive  much  salary  as  an  actress?"  in- 
quired the  priest's  wife. 

The  priest  became  thoroughly  frightened,  and  even 
began  to  wink  at  his  wife.  He  expected  Anninka  to 
be  offended,  but  Anninka  was  not  offended  and  an- 
swered without  a  waver,  "At  present  I  get  a  hundred 
and  fifty  rubles  a  month,  and  my  sister  earns  one  hun- 
dred. But  then  we  have  benefit  performances.  All 
told,  the  two  of  us  net  about  six  thousand  a  year." 

"Why  does  sister  get  less  ?  Is  she  of  inferior  merit, 
or  what?"  continued  the  priest's  wife. 

"No,  hers  is  a  different  д£Ш£.  I  have  a  voice  and 
1  sing.  The  audience  likes  it  more.  Sister's  voice  is 
a  little  weaker.     So  she  plays  in  vaudeville  mostly." 

"So  even  in  acting  some  are  priests,  some  deacons 
and  others  just  sextons?" 

"Yes,  but  we  share  our  income  equally.  That  was 
our  understanding  from  the  very  beginning — to  share 
all  money  equally." 

"Like  good  sisters?  Well,  there  is  nothing  better 
than  that.  How  much  will  that  be,  father?  If  you 
divide  six  thousand  by  months,  how  much  will  that 
make?" 

"Five  hundred  rubles  a  month,  and  divided  by  two 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  275 

it  makes  two  hundred  and  fifty  rubles  a  month  each." 

''My,  what  a  heap  of  money !  We  could  not  spend 
that  much  in  a  year.  Another  thing  I  meant  to  ask 
you,  is  it  true  that  actresses  are  treated  as  if  they  were 
not  real  women?" 

The  priest  became  so  alarmed  that  his  cassock  flew 
open ;  but  seeing  that  Anninka  took  the  question  quite 
indifferently,  he  said  to  himself,  ''Eh — eh — she  is 
really  a  hard  nut  to  crack,"  and  felt  reassured. 

"What  do  you  mean  'not  real  women  ?'  "  she  asked. 

"Well,  they  kiss  and  embrace.  I  heard  they  must 
do  it  whether  they  want  to  or  not." 

"No,  they  don't  kiss — they  only  pretend  to.  And 
as  to  whether  they  want  to  or  not,  that  is  out  of  the 
question  entirely,  because  everything  is  done  according 
to  the  play.  They  must  act  whatever  is  written  in  the 
play." 

"Yes,  but  even  if  it's  in  the  play — you  know — some- 
times a  man  with  a  slabbery  snout  sidles  up  to  you. 
He  is  loathsome  to  look  at,  but  you've  got  to  hold  your 
lips  ready  to  let  him  kiss  you." 

A  blush  suffused  Anninka's  face.  There  suddenly 
flashed  up  in  her  memory  the  slabbery  face  of  the 
brave  Captain  Papkov,  who  had  actually  "sidled  up  to 
her"  and,  alas !  not  even  in  accordance  with  the  play. 

"You  have  a  wrong  notion  of  what  takes  place  on 
the  stage,**  she  said  drily. 

"Of  course,  we've  never  been  to  the  theatre,  but  I 
am  sure  many  things  happen  there.  Father  and  I  have 
often  been  speaking  about  you,  madam.  We  are  sorry 
for  you,  very  sorry,  indeed." 

Anninka  was  silent.  The  priest  tugged  at  his  beard 
as  if  he,  too,  had  finally  gathered  up  enough  courage 
to  say  something. 


27б  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"Of  course,  it  must  be  admitted,  madam,  Miat  every 
calling  has  its  agreeable  and  disagreeable  sides,"  he 
at  last  delivered  himself,  "but  we  humans  in  our  fail- 
ings extol  the  former  and  try  to  forget  the  latter.  And 
why  do  we  try  to  forget?  Because,  madam,  we  want 
as  far  as  possible  to  avoid  even  the  remembrance  of 
duty  and  of  the  virtuous  life  we  formerly  led."  He 
heaved  a  sigh  and  added,  "And  above  all,  madam,  you 
must  guard  your  treasure.''* 

The  priest»  glanced  at  Anninka  admonishingly,  and 
his  wife  shook  her  head  sadly,  as  much  as  to  say, 
"Not  much  chance  of  that." 

"And  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  you  can  preserve 
your  treasure  while  an  actress,"  he  continued. 

Anninka  was  at  a  loss  what  answer  to  make  to 
these  warnings.  Little  by  little  she  began  to  see  that 
the  talk  of  these  simple-minded  folk  about  her  ''treas- 
ure" was  of  the  same  value  as  the  pointed  remarks 
of  the  officers  of  the  regiments  stationed  in  the  various 
towns  about  la  chose.  Now  it  became  quite  clear  to 
her  that  both  at  her  uncle*s  and  at  the  priest's  she  was 
considered  a  peculiar  individual  to  whom  one  may 
condescend,  but  from  a  distance,  so  as  not  to  soil 
oneself. 

"Father,  why  is  your  church  so  poor?"  she  asked 
to  change  the  subject. 

"There  is  nothing  here  to  make  it  rich — that's  why 
it's  poor.  The  landlords  are  all  away  in  the  govern- 
ment service,  and  the  peasants  haven't  much  to  thrive 
on.  In  all  there  are  a  little  over  two  hundred  parish- 
ioners." 

"Our  bell,  you  see,  is  a  very  poor  one,"  sighed  the 
priest's  wife. 

"Yes,  the  bell  and  everything.     Our  bell,  madam, 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  277 

weighs  only  five  hundred  pounds,  and  to  make  mat- 
ters worse,  it  is  cracked.  It  does  not  ring,  it  coughs. 
To  be  so  poor  is  even  sinful.  The  late  Arina  Petrovna 
promised  to  erect  a  new  bell  and,  if  she  were  alive  we 
would  most  likely  have  a  new  bell  by  now." 

"Why  don't  you  tell  uncle  that  grandmother  prom- 
ised you  one?" 

"I  did  tell  him,  madam,  and  I  must  admit  he  list- 
ened very  kindly  to  my  grievance,  but  he  could  not 
give  me  a  satisfactory  answer.  He  said  he  had  heard 
nothing  about  it  from  mother;  that  his  late  dear 
mother  had  never  spoken  about  the  matter.  He  would 
gladly  carry  out  her  wishes,  he  said,  if  he  had  only 
heard  mother  express  them." 

**He  could  not  help  hearing  them,"  said  the  priest's 
wife.     "It  was  known  throughout  the  district." 

"So  we  live  on  in  this  wise.  At  first  we  had  hopes, 
at  least,  now  we  have  no  hopes  left.  Not  to  mention 
our  own  personal  needs,  there  is  nothing  to  perform 
the  service  with  sometimes — neither  host  nor  red 
wine." 

Anninka  wanted  to  rise  and  take  leave,  but  a  new 
tray  appeared  on  the  table,  with  two  dishes  on  it,  one 
of  mushrooms,  the  other  with  bits  of  caviar,  and  a 
bottle  of  Madeira. 

"Do  oblige  us  and  have  a  bite — it's  the  best  we 
have." 

Anninka  obeyed  and  quickly  swallowed  some  mush- 
rooms, but  refused  the  Madeira. 

"Another  thing  I  meant  to  ask,"  continued  the 
priest's  wife,  "we  have  a  girl  in  our  parish,  the  daugh- 
ter of  a  peasant  in  the  service  of  Lyshechevsky.  She 
was  the  chambermaid  of  a  certain  actress  in  St.  Peters- 
burg.   She  says  the  life  of  an  actress  is  very  easy  and 


278  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

pleasant,  but  an  actress  must  produce  a  special  pass- 
port every  month.     Is  that  true?" 

Anninka  stared  at  her  and  did  not  understand. 

"That  is  for  the  greater  freedom,"  explained  the 
priest.  "But  I  think  she  did  not  tell  the  truth.  On 
the  contrary,  I  heard  that  many  actresses  even  get 
pensions  from  the  government  for  their  services." 

Anninka  became  convinced  that  matters  were  going 
from  bad  to  worse,  and  she  rose  to  take  leave. 

"We  thought  you  would  give  up  acting  now,"  the 
priest's  wife  persisted. 

"Why  should  I?" 

"Yes,  but — you  are  a  lady.  You  have  reached  your 
majority,  you  have  an  estate  of  your  own — what 
could  be  better  ?" 

"And  you  are  your  uncle's  heiress,  you  know," 
added  the  priest. 

"No,  I  sha'n't  live  here." 

"And  how  we  were  hoping  for  it !  The  father  and 
I  would  often  speak  about  our  little  mistress.  We 
thought  you  would  surely  come  to  live  at  Pogorelka. 
In  the  summer  it  is  very  nice  here.  You  can  go  to  the 
woods  and  pick  mushrooms,"  tempted  the  priest's  wife. 

"We  have  mushrooms  even  in  a  dry  summer,  plenty 
of  mushrooms,"  chimed  the  priest. 

At  last  Anninka  left.  When  she  reached  Pogo- 
relka, her  first  word  was,  "Horses!  Please  have  the 
horses  ready  at  once!"  But  Fedulych  only  shrugged 
his  shoulders. 

"What's  the  use  of  shouting  horses?  We  haven't 
fed  them  yet,"  he  grumbled. 

"But  why?  Oh,  my  God,  as  if  everybody  were 
conspiring  against  me !" 

"That's  it,  we  have  conspired.    How  can  you  help 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  279 

conspiring  if  it's  clear  as  day  that  we  can't  ride  at  night 
in  thawing  weather?  Anyway,  you'll  get  stranded  in 
the  mud  a  whole  night,  so  it  is  better  to  be  stranded 
at  home,  I  think." 

Grandmother's  apartments  had  been  well  heated. 
The  bedroom  had  been  prepared,  and  a  samovar  was 
puffing  on  the  table.  Afimyushka  scraped  together 
the  remnants  of  tea  at  the  bottom  of  Arina  Petrovna's 
tea-caddy.  While  the  tea  was  drawing,  Fedulych  stood 
at  the  door,  his  arms  folded,  facing  the  young  mistress. 
Beside  him  stood  the  cattle  woman  and  Morkovna 
looking  as  if  at  the  first  wave  of  the  hand  they  were 
ready  to  flee  for  their  lives. 

Fedulych  was  first  to  begin  the  conversation. 

"The  tea  is  grandmother's — just  a  bit  left  in  the 
bottom  of  the  box.  Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  going 
to  take  the  box  away,  too,  but  I  wouldn't  let  him. 
'Maybe,'  I  say,  'the  young  mistress  will  come  and  will 
want  to  have  some  hot  tea.  So  let  it  stay  here  till 
she  gets  some  of  her  own.'  Well,  I  had  no  trouble 
with  him — he  even  joked.  'You  old  rascal,'  he  says, 
'you  will  use  it  up  yourself!  Be  sure,'  he  says,  'to 
bring  the  box  to  Golovliovo.'  I  wouldn't  be  surprised 
if  he  sends  for  it  tomorrow." 

"You  should  have  given  it  to  him  then." 

"',Vhy  should  we?  He  has  enough  tea  of  his  own. 
And  now,  at  least,  we,  too,  will  have  some  after  you. 
Another  thing,  madam,  are  you  going  to  make  us  over 
to  Porfiry  Vladimirych?" 

"Why,  I  never  meant  to." 

"Just  so.  We  were  going  to  mutiny,  you  know. 
If,  supposing,  let's  say,  we  are  put  under  the  rule  of 
the  Golovliovo  master,  we  will  all  hand  in  our  resigna- 
tions." 


28o  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"Why?    Is  uncle  really  so  terrible?" 
''No,  he  is  not  terrible,  but  he  tortures  you,  he  is 
all  words.    He  can  talk  a  man  into  his  grave." 

Anninka  smiled  involuntarily.     It  was  vile  dirt  in- 
,  deed,  that  oozed  from  Yudushka's  orations,  not  mere 
babble.    It  was  an  ill-smelling  wound  from  which  the 
pus  flowed  incessantly. 

''And  what  have  you  decided  about  yourself?" 
Fedulych  continued  to  question. 

"Why,  what  was  there  to  decide  about  myself?" 
said  Anninka,  a  bit  confused,  feeling  that  she  Avould 
again  be  compelled  to  listen  to  orations  on  the  "treas- 
ure." 

"Aren't  you  really  going  to  give  up  acting?" 
"No — that  is,  I  haven't  thought  of  it  so  far.     But 
what  harm  is  there  in  my  earning  my  own  bread  ?" 

"I  don't  see  any  good  in  going  with  a  bagpipe  from 
fair  to  fair  to  amuse  drunkards.  Surely  you  are  a 
lady." 

Anninka  did  not  reply,  only  knitting  her  brows.  A 
painful  thought  drummed  in  her  head,  "God,  when  will 
I  leave  this  place?" 

"Of  course,  you  know  better  how  to  take  care  of 
yourself.  But  we  thought  you  would  come  back  to 
live  with  us.  The  house  is  warm,  and  roomy  enough 
to  play  tag  in.  The  late  mistress  looked  after  the 
building  herself.  And  if  you  feel  dull,  why  then  you 
can  go  sleigh-riding.  In  the  summer  you  can  go  to  the 
woods  to  pick  mushrooms." 

"We  have  all  kinds  of  mushrooms  here — lots  of 
them,"  lisped  Afimyushka  temptingly. 

Anninka  leaned  her  elbows  on  the  table  and  tried  not 
to  listen. 

"There  was  a  girl  here,"  continued  Fedulych  cruelly. 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  NIECE  281 

"She  was  a  chambermaid  in  St.  Petersburg.  She  says 
all  actresses  must  have  special  passports.  Every  month 
they  have  to  present  their  license  at  the  police  sta- 
tion." 

Anninka  could  bear  it  no  longer.  She  had  had  to 
listen  to  such  speeches  all  day  long. 

'Tedulych!"  she  shouted  in  pain.  "What  have  I 
done  to  you?  Why  do  you  take  pleasure  in  insulting 
me?" 

It  was  all  she  could  stand.  She  felt  as  if  some- 
thing was  strangling  her.  Another  word — and  she 
would  break  down. 


BOOK  V 
FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS 


CHAPTER  I 

Not  long  before  the  catastrophe  that  befell  Petenka, 
Arina  Petrovna,  on  one  of  her  visits  to  Golovliovo, 
noticed  a  change  in  Yevpraksia.  Brought  up  in  the 
practices  of  serfdom,  where  the  pregnancy  of  a  do- 
mestic was  the  subject  of  a  detailed  and  not  uninter- 
esting investigation,  and  was  even  considered  an  item 
of  income,  Arina  Petrovna  had  a  keen  eye  for  such 
matters.  She  merely  looked  at  Yevpraksia,  and  the 
girl,  without  saying  a  word,  turned  away  her  flushed 
face  in  full  cognizance  of  her  guilt. 

"Come  now,  come  now,  my  lady.  Look  at  me. 
Pregnant,  eh?"  the  experienced  old  woman  asked  the 
young  culprit.  However,  there  was  no  reproach  in 
her  voice,  on  the  contrary,  it  sr^unded  jocose,  almost 
gay,  as  if  the  old  woman  scented  a  whiff  of  the  dear, 
good,  old  times. 

Yevpraksia,  bashful  and  complacent,  kept  silence, 
but  under  Arina  Petrovna's  inquisitive  look,  the  red 
of  her  cheeks  deepened. 

"For  some  time  I  have  been  noticing  that  you  walk 
kind  of  stiff,  strutting  about  and  twirling  your  skirts 
as  if  you  were  a  respectable  lady!  But,  my  dear,  you 
can't  fool  me  with  your  strutting  and  twirling.  I  can 
see  your  girlish  tricks  five  versts  ahead !  Is  it  the  wind 
that  puffed  you  up?  Since  when  is  it?  Out  with  it 
now.     Tell  me  all  about  it." 

285 


286  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

A  detailed  inquiry  ensued,  followed  by  a  no  less  de- 
tailed explanation.  When  had  the  first  symptoms  ap- 
peared? Had  she  a  midwife  in  view?  Did  Porfiry 
Vladimirych  know  of  the  joy  in  store  for  him?  Was 
Yevpraksia  taking  good  care  of  herself?  Was  she 
careful  not  to  lift  anything  heavy?  The  findings  were 
that  it  was  now  the  fifth  month  since  Yevpraksia  had 
been  pregnant;  that  she  had  no  midwife  in  view  as 
yet;  that  Porfiry  Vladimirych  had  been  informed  of 
the  matter,  but  had  said  nothing.  He  had  only  folded 
his  hands,  mumbled  something,  and  glanced  at  the 
ikon,  to  intimate  that  all  is  from  God  and  that  He,  the 
Heavenly  Father,  provides  for  all  occasions.  Yev- 
praksia had  been  careless;  she  had  lifted  a  samovar 
and  had  then  and  there  felt  that  something  inside  of 
her  snapped. 

"You've  got  brains,  I  must  say,"  said  Arina  Pe- 
trovna  in  a  grieved  tone  when  the  confession  was  out. 
''I  see  Г11  have  to  look  into  the  matter  myself.  Did 
you  ever!  A  woman  in  the  fifth  month  and  hasn't 
even  provided  for  a  midwife!  But  why  at  least  didn't 
you  see  Ulita  about  it,  you  fool,  you?" 

"I  w^as  going  to,  but  the  master  doesn't  like  Ulita, 
you  know." 

''Nonsense,  girl,  nonsense !  Whether  Ulita  offended 
the  master  or  not  has  nothing  at  all  to  do  with  the  case. 
He  doesn't  have  to  kiss  her,  does  he  ?  No,  there  is  no 
way  out  of  it.  I'll  have  to  take  this  thing  in  hand  my- 
self." 

It  was  on  the  tip  of  her  tongue  to  complain  that  even 
in  her  old  age  she  had  hardships  to  bear,  but  the  sub- 
ject of  the  conversation  was  so  attractive  that  she  only 
parted  her  lips  wth  a  smack  and  continued : 

"Well,  my  girl,  you  are  in  for  it.    Take  your  medi- 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  287 

cine,  try  it  and  see  how  it  tastes.  Go  ahead,  just  try 
it.  I  myself  raised  three  sons  and  a  daughter,  and  I 
buried  five  Httle  ones — I  ought  to  know.  We  are  no 
better  than  slaves  to  those  nasty  men!"  she  added, 
slapping  herself  on  the  nape  of  her  neck. 

Suddenly,  she  stopped,  struck  by  a  new  idea.  "Holy 
saints!  If  it  isn't  going  to  be  in  Lent!  Wait,  just  a 
moment,  let's  figure  it  out." 

They  began  to  figure  on  their  fingers,  they  figured 
once,  twice,  a  third  time — it  surely  came  out  on  a 
Lenten  day. 

"So  that's  how  it  is.  That's  the  kind  of  saint  he  is. 
Just  wait,  I'll  tease  the  life  out  of  him.  A  pretty  mess 
for  him !  I'll  tease  him.  My  name  is  mud  if  I  won't," 
jested  Arina  Petrovna. 

And  truly,  that  very  day,  Avhen  all  were  gathered  at 
evening  tea,  Arina  Petrovna  began  to  poke  fun  at 
Yudushka. 

"See  what  a  trick  our  saint  has  played.  Maybe  it 
really  is  the  wind  that  puffed  your  queen  up.  Well, 
brother,  you've  surprised  me,  I  must  say." 

At  first  Yudushka  answered  his  mother's  banter 
with  grimaces  of  aversion,  but  seeing  that  Arina 
Petrovna  spoke  good-naturedly  and  meant  no  harm, 
he  brightened  up  little  by  little. 

"You  are  wag,  mother  dear,  you  certainly  are,"  he 
jested  in  his  furn,  though  evading  the  real  point. 

"Why  call  me  a  wag?  We  had  better  speak  seri- 
ously about  the  matter.  It's  no  joke,  you  know.  It's 
a  ^sacrament,'  that's  what  it  is.     Though  not  a  proper 

one  but  still No,  we've  got  to  give  it  serious 

thought.  What  do  you  think;  is  she  to  stay  here,  or 
will  you. send  her  to  the  town?" 

"I  don't  know,  mother,  I  don't  know  a  thing,  dar- 


288  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

ling,'*  said  Porfiry  Vladimirych  evasively.    "You  are  a 
wag,  you  certainly  are." 

''Well,  my  girl,  never  mind,  then.  We'll  talk  it  over, 
just  the  two  of  us,  at  leisure.  We'll  figure  it  out,  and 
arrange  things  properly.  These  mean  men — all  they 
need  is  to  satisfy  their  lust,  and  we,  poor  devils,  we 
get  the  worst  of  it." 

Arina  Petrovna  felt  in  her  element.  She  spent  a 
whole  evening  discussing  things  with  Yevpraksia  and 
could  have  gone  on  indefinitely.  Even  her  cheeks  be- 
gan to  glow  and  her  eyes  to  glitter  youthfully. 

"You  know,  my  dear,  what  it  is?  It's  something 
divine,  it  is,"  she  insisted.  "Because,  even  if  it  isn't 
in  the  proper  way,  still  it's  the  natural  way.  But  you 
had  better  look  out.  If  it  comes  during  Lent — God 
save  you !  I'll  tease  you  to  death,  I'll  make  this  world 
too  hot  for  you." 

Ulita  was  also  called  into  the  council.  First  mat- 
ters of  real  importance  were  taken  up;  whether  an 
injection  Avas  to  be  made  or  whether  the  abdomen  was 
to  be  massaged  with  quicksilver  salve.  Then  they 
turned  to  the  favorite  theme  and  figured  on  their  fin- 
gers again — it  came  out  on  a  Lenten  day !  Yevpraksia 
turned  as  red  as  a  peony  and  did  not  deny  it,  but 
pleaded  her  subordinate  position. 

"What  could  I  do?"  she  said.  "I  must  do  what  he 
wants  me  to  do.  If  the  master  orders  us  to  do  some- 
thing, we,  poor  devils,  can't  help  but  obey." 

"Look  at  her  playing  the  goody-goody.  I'll  bet,  you 
yourself "  jested  Arina  Petrovna. 

The  woman  fairly  revelled  in  the  affair.  Arina  Pe- 
trovna recalled  a  number  of  incidents  from  her  past, 
and  did  not  fail  to  narrate  them.  First  she  told  of  her 
own  pregnancies,  what  tortures  she  had  had  to  stand 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  289 

from  Simple  Simon ;  how,  while  carrying  Pavel  Vladi- 
mirych,  she  travelled  by  post  to  Moscow,  changing 
horses  at  every  stage  so  as  not  to  miss  the  Dubrovino 
auction,  and  as  a  result  nearly  departed  to  the  better 
world,  etc.,  etc.  All  her  deliveries  had  been  remark- 
able for  something  or  other.  Yudushka's  was  the  only 
one  that  had  come  easy. 

"I  didn't  feel  the  least  bit  of  heaviness,"  she  said. 
*'I  would  sit  and  think,  'Lord,  am  I  really  pregnant?' 
And  when  the  time  came  I  just  lay  down  to  rest  for  a 
few  minutes  and  I  don't  know  how  it  happened — I 
gave  birth  to  him.  He  was  the  easiest  son  to  me,  the 
very,  very  easiest." 

Then  followed  stories  about  domestics,  how  she 
herself  '^caught  some  of  them  in  the  act,"  how  others 
were  spied  upon  by  her  trusties,  Ulita  being  generally 
the  leader.  Her  old  woman's  memory  faithfully 
guarded  these  remarkably  distinct  recollections.  In  all 
her  drab  past — always  devoted  to  hoarding  on  both  a 
petty  and  a  large  scale,  the  tracking  of  lust-stricken 
domestics  was  the  only  romantic  element  that  touched 
a  living  chord  in  her. 

It  was  as  if  in  a  dull  magazine  where  the  reader  ex- 
pects to  find  treatises  on  dry  fogs  and  Ovid's  grave,  he 
suddenly  comes  upon  "See  the  troika,  gaily  dashing," 
or  some  such  spirited  song  of  gaiety  or  sadness.  The 
denouement  of  these  simple  love  affairs  of  the  maids' 
room  was  generally  drastic  and  even  cruel.  The 
woman  was  married  off  into  a  remote  village,  by  all 
means  to  a  widower  with  a  large  family,  the  male 
culprit  was  degraded  to  the  position  of  a  cat.le  tender 
or  even  pressed  into  military  service.  Arina  Petrov- 
na's  recollection  of  the  closing  chapters  of  such  ro- 
mances had  faded   (cultured  people  have  a  memory 


290  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

indulgent  of  their  own  past),  but  the  spying  out  of  the 
amorous  intrigues  passed  before  her  eyes  in  all  its 
vividness.  And  no  wonder.  In  those  days  there  was 
the  same  absorbing  interest  in  spying  of  that  sort  as 
there  is  nowadays  in  the  serial  ^'evening  story,"  in 
which  the  author,  instead  of  at  once  crowning  the  mu- 
tual longing  of  the  hero  and  the  heroine,  breaks  off 
at  the  most  pathetic  place  and  writes,  ''to  be  con- 
tinued." 

"Those  girls  gave  me  no  end  of  trouble.  Some 
would  keep  up  the  pretense  to  the  last  minute,  and 
would  feign  and  sham  in  the  hope  of  eluding  me.  But 
no,  my  dear,  you  can't  fool  me.  I  am  an  old  hand  at 
it  myself,"  she  added  almost  sternly,  as  if  threatening 
some  one. 

Finally  came  the  stories  of  diplomatic  pregnancies, 
so  to  speak,  in  which  Arina  Petrovna  had  figured  not 
as  the  chastiser,  but  as  the  accomplice  and  concealer. 

For  example,  her  father  Piotr  Ivanych,  when  he  was 
an  old,  tottering  man  of  seventy,  had  also  had  a  "mis- 
tress," who  had  also  been  discovered  with  an  "incre- 
ment" ;  and  for  higher  considerations  it  had  been  nec- 
essary to  conceal  the  "increment"  from  the  old  man. 
As  ill  luck  would  have  it,  Arina  Petrovna  was  then  at 
odds  with  her  brother  Piotr  Petrovich  who,  also  for 
some  diplomatic  reasons,  had  wanted  to  spy  upon  the 
pregnancy  and  leave  his  father  in  no  doubt  as  to  his 
lady-love's  position. 

"And  what  do  you  think?  We  carried  the  whole 
thing  through  almost  in  front  of  father's  nose.  The 
old  dear  slept  in  his  bedroom,  and  the  two  of  us,  along- 
side of  him,  went  on  w^ith  our  work,  quietly,  in  a 
whisper  and  on  tiptoe.  I  myself  with  my  own  hands 
closed  up  her  mouth,  so  she  could  not  scream,  dis- 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  291 

posed  of  the  linen,  and  then  grabbed  hold  of  her  baby 
— he  was  a  fine,  big  fellow — and  dispatched  him  to 
the  foundling  asylum.  When  brother  learned  about  it 
a  week  later  he  only  gasped." 

There  had  been  another  diplomatic  pregnancy.  Her 
cousin  Varvara  Mikhailovna  had  been  involved  in  the 
case.  Her  husband  had  left  on  a  campaign  against 
the  Turks,  and  she  had  not  been  sufficiently  careful. 
She  came  galloping  to  Golovliovo  like  one  possessed 
and  had  shouted  "Save  me,  cousin!" 

"Well,  though  we  were  on  the  outs  with  her  at  that 
time,  I  did  not  make  her  feel  it.  I  welcomed  her  in 
the  most  hospitable  way,  calmed  her,  reassured  her, 
pretended  she  had  just  come  to  us  on  a  visit,  and  fixed 
the  matter  up  so  that  her  husband  did  not  know  a 
thing  about  it  till  his  dying  day." 

Thus  ran  the  tales  of  Arina  Petrovna,  and  seldom 
has  a  narrator  found  more  attentive  listeners.  Yev- 
praksia  swallowed  every  word  as  if  the  incidents  of 
a  wonderful  fairy  tale  were  actually  passing  before 
her  eyes.  As  to  Ulita,  she  as  an  erstwhile  participant 
in  most  of  it,  only  made  smacking  sounds  with  the  cor- 
ners of  her  lips. 

Ulita  also  brightened  up  and  felt  more  comfortable 
than  she  had  for  a  long  time.  Hers  was  a  restless  life. 
Even  in  childhood  she  had  burned  with  servile  am- 
bitions. Sleeping  and  waking,  she  would  dream  about 
gaining  favor  in  her  master's  eyes  and  getting  the 
whiphand  over  those  in  her  own  station  in  life.  But 
her  dreams  never  came  true.  As  soon  as  she  set  foot 
on  the  rung  higher  up,  she  would  be  tugged  back  and 
plunged  into  the  inferno  by  an  unseen,  mysterious 
power.  She  possessed  in  perfection  the  qualities  of  an  A 
all-round  servant  of  the  gentlefolk.  She  was  venomous,  \ 


292  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

evil-tongued  and  always  ready  for  treachery,  but  also 
slavishly  ready  to  go  anywhere  and  do  anything  that 
neutralized  her  viciousness.  In  former  days,  when  it 
was  necessary  to  follow  up  an  event  in  the  maid  serv- 
ants' room,  or  settle  any  dubious  affair,  Arina  Petrov- 
na  had  gladly  made  use  of  her  services,  though  she  had 
never  appreciated  them  and  had  not  admitted  her  to 
any  office  of  l^ust.  Ulita  would  then  make  loud  com- 
plaints, and  sting  with  her  tongue,  but  no  one  paid 
attention  to  her  grumblings,  for  she  was  well  known 
as  a  malevolent  woman,  ready  to  curse  herself  and 
others  to  eternal  damnation,  but  the  next  moment  at 
a  mere  wink  willing  to  come  running  and  sit  up  on  her 
^hind  legs  prepared  to  do  her  master's  bidding. 

And  so  she  had  been  knocked  about,  always  trying 
to  get  somewhere  and  never  getting  there,  till  the 
abolition  of  serfdom  put  an  end  to  her  slavish  ambi- 
tions. 

One  event  in  Ulita's  youth  had  kindled  in  her  great 
hopes.  Porfiry  Vladimirych,  on  one  of  his  visits  to 
Golovliovo,  had  become  intimate  with  her,  and,  as 
tradition  had  it,  had  even  had  a  child  by  her.  That 
had  brought  down  upon  him  the  wrath  of  Arina  Pe- 
trovna.  It  is  uncertain  whether  the  relationship  had 
been  kept  up  on  his  subsequent  visits ;  at  any  rate, 
when  Yudushka  decided  to  establish  himself  perma- 
nently at  Golovliovo,  Ulita's  hopes  had  been  shattered 
grievously.  Immediately  after  his  arrival  she  came  to 
him  with  a  heap  of  gossip,  in  which  Arina  Petrovna 
was  accused  of  all  sorts  of  fraud.  The  master  listened 
very  affably  to  her  gossip,  but  gave  Ulita  a  cold  look, 
evidently  failing  to  remember  her  former  "good  serv- 
ices." Offended  and  deceived  in  her  hopes,  Ulita  trans- 
ferred herself  to  Dubrovino,  where  Pavel  Vladimir- 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  293 

ych,  because  of  his  hatred  for  his  dear  brother  Porfiry 
Vladimirych,  received  her  gladly  and  even  made  her 
his  housekeeper.  Here  for  a  long  tirqe  her  condition 
seemed  to  improve.  Pavel  Vladimirych  would  sit  in 
the  entresol  and  sip  one  glass  of  vodka- after  another, 
and  she  would  run  busily  from  storeroom  to  cellar, 
clanging  a  bunch  of  keys,  and  rattling  her  tongue. 
She  had  even  quarrelled  with  Arina  Petrovna,  whom 
the  sly  wench  nearly  drove  to  her  grave. 

But  Ulita  loved  treachery  too  well  to  be  cDntent 
with  the  peace  and  quiet  that  had  come  with  her  ''good 
living."  That  was  when  Pavel  Vladimirych  had  be- 
come so  addicted  to  drink  that  his  end  could  readily 
be  foreseen.  Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  alive  to  Ulita's 
priceless  value  at  this  juncture,  and  he  snapped  his 
fingers  again  and  summoned  her.  He  ordered  her 
never  for  a  moment  to  leave  his  prey,  not  to  contra- 
dict Pavel  in  anything,  not  even  in  his  hatred  of  his 
brother  Porfiry,  and  by  all  means  to  eliminate  the  in- 
terference of  Arina  Petrovna.  This  had  been  one  of 
those  domestic  crimes  which  Yudushka  had  a  gift  of 
perpetrating  without  previous  deliberation,  spontane- 
ously, and  as  a  matter  of  course.  Needless  to  say, 
Ulita  carried  out  his  orders  most  faithfully.  Pavel 
Vladimirych  never  ceased  to  hate  his  brother,  and  the 
more  he  hated  him,  the  more  he  drank  his  vodka,  and 
the  less  capable  he  became  of  heeding  the  remarks  and 
advice  of  Arina  Petrovna  as  to  ''making  provisions." 
Every  moment  of  the  dying  man,  every  word  uttered 
w^ere  at  once  reported  to  Golovliovo,  so  that  Yudushka, 
equipped  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  facts,  could  de- 
termine the  exact  moment  he  should  have  to  leave  his 
ambush  and  step  in  as  master  of  the  situation  thit  he 
had  created.    And  so  he  had !    He  had  come  to  Dubro- 


294  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

vino  at  the  very  moment  that  he  could  get  the  estate 
for  the  asking.  Porfiry  Vladimirych  had  rewarded 
UHta's  services  by  making  her  a  gift  of  cloth  for  a 
woolen  dress,  but  he  never  admitted  her  close  to  him. 

Again  Ulita  had  been  plunged  from  the  heights  of 
grandeur  into  the  depths  of  inferno.  It  seemed  to  be 
her  last  fall.  No  one  would  snap  his  fingers  again 
and  summon  her  for  service.  As  a  sign  of  special 
favor  and  in  consideration  of  her  "nursing  dear 
brother  in  his  last  days,"  she  had  been  alloted  a  nook 
in  the  house  where  all  the  deserving  old  servants,  who 
had  remained  after  the  abolition  of  serfdom,  had 
found  shelter.  Here  Ulita  had  become  completely 
cowed,  and  when  Porfiry  Vladimirych  made  his  choice 
of  Yevpraksia,  she  not  only  had  not  shown  any  ob- 
stinancy,  but  had  even  been  first  to  come  to  do  homage 
to  the  master's  love  and  had  kissed  her  shoulder. 

And  now,  when  she  had  given  herself  up  as  for- 
gotten and  abandoned,  she  struck  luck  once  more  in 
Yevpraksia's  pregnancy.  It  was  suddenly  recalled  that 
somewhere  in  the  servants'  room  there  w^as  a  handy 
person.  Somebody  snapped  her  fingers  and  summoned 
Ulita.  True,  it  was  not  the  master  who  had  snapped 
his  fingers.  But  that  he  offered  no  obstacles  was  in 
itself  sufficient  grace.  Ulita  celebrated  her  entry  into 
the  Golovliovo  manor  by  taking  the  samovar  from 
Yevpraksia's  hands.  Bending  sidewise  a  bit,  with  the 
weight  of  it,  she  walked  smartly  into  the  dining-room, 
where  Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  already  seated.  The 
master  said  not  a  word.  He  even  smiled,  she  thought, 
when  upon  another  occasion,  as  she  was  bringing  in 
the  samovar,  she  shouted  from  a  distance,  "Step  to 
one  side,  master,  or  I'll  scald  you." 

When  Ulita  answered  the  summons  to  the  family 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  295 

council  she  made  wry  faces  at  first  and  refused  to  be 
seated.  But  when  Arina  Petrovna  shouted  at  her  in 
a  kindly  way,  "Sit  down, — will  you?  What's  the  use 
of  your  tricks?  God  made  us  all  equal — be  seated." 
Ulita  sat  down  and  kept  silence  a  while.  Very  shortly, 
however,  her  tongue  unloosened. 

She,  too,  had  her  reminiscences.  Her  memory  was 
stuffed  with  filth  from  the  days  of  her  serfdom.  Be- 
side the  carrying  out  of  delicate  commissions  like 
dogging  the  amorous  doings  of  the  maids'  room,  Ulita 
had  also  held  the  office  of  leech  and  apothecary  in 
the  Golovliovo  manor.  It  was  she  who  made  all  the 
injections,  and  applied  the  cupping-glasses  and  mus- 
tard plasters.  She  had  given  even  the  old  master, 
Vladimir  Mikhailych  and  Arina  Petrovna  injections, 
and  the  young  master,  too — every  one  of  them.  She 
retained  the  most  grateful  memories,  and  now  there 
was  a  boundless  field  for  all  her  reminiscences. 

A  new  mysterious  life  animated  the  Golovliovo 
manor.  Arina  Petrovna  would  come  over  from  Pogo- 
relka  every  now  and  then  to  pay  her  "good  son"  a  visit 
and  supervise  preparations  that  as  yet  were  given  no 
name.  After  the  evening,  the  three  women  would  go 
into  Yevpraksia's  room,  would  eat  some  homemade 
jam,  play  fool,  and,  till  late  into  the  night,  would 
revel  in  reminiscences  that  would  often  make  the 
heroine  of  the  occasion  blush.  The  least  incident,  the 
smallest  trifle,  served  as  a  pretext  for  endless  narra- 
tions. Yevpraksia  brought  some  raspberry  jam,  and 
Arina  Petrovna  began  a  story  that  when  she  was 
carrying  her  daughter  Sonya  she  could  not  stand  even 
the  smell  of  raspberries. 

"No  sooner  did  a  raspberry  come  into  the  house  than 
I  began  to  yell  at  the  top  of  my  voice,  ^ut,  out  with 


296  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

that  damned  thing!'  After  my  confinement  it  was  all 
right  again ;     I  liked  raspberries  again." 

Yevpraksia  brought  some  caviar — and  Arina  Pe- 
trovna  had  an  incident  to  recall  in  connection  with 
caviar,  too. 

''A  really  wonderful  thing  happened  to  me  in  con- 
nection with  caviar.  It  was  a  month  or  two  after  I 
Avas  married  and  suddenly  I  was  seized  with  such  a 
strong  desire  for  caviar  that  I  simply  had  to  have  it 
at  any  cost.  I  would  sneak  into  the  cellar  and  eat  as 
much  as  I  could.  And  once  I  said  to  my  husband, 
'Vladimir  Mikhailych,  why  is  it  that  I  eat  caviar  all 
the  time?'  He  smiled  at  me,  you  know,  and  said, 
*My  dear,  it  is  because  you  are  pregnant.'  And  surely 
enough,  just  nine  months  afterward  I  gave  birth  to 
Simple  Simon." 

But  Porfiry  Vladimirych  continued  to  be  noncom- 
mittal, never  once  admitting  that  he  had  anything  to  do 
with  Yevpraksia's  condition.  Quite  naturally  this  at- 
titude of  his  embarrassed  the  women  and  dampened 
their  effusions  in  his  presence,  so  that  he  came  to  be 
completely  abandoned.  They  chased  him  without  cere- 
mony from  Yevpraksia's  room  when  he  came  in  the 
evening  to  rest  up  and  have  a  chat. 

'Ъе  gone,  you  fine  fellow !"  Arina  Petrovna  said 
gaily.  "You  did  your  part.  Now  it's  none  of  your 
business  any  more,  it's  the  women's  business.  It's  our 
turn  now." 

Yudushka  took  himself  off  in  all  meekness.  Though 
not  neglecting  to  reproach  his  mother  dear  for  being 
unkind  to  him,  he  rejoiced  inwardly  that  she  was  tak- 
ing so  much  interest  in  the  embarrasing  affair,  and 
that  he  was  left  alone.  If  not  for  his  mother's  partici- 
pation, God  knows  what  he  would  have  had  to  undergo 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  297 

in  order  to  hush  up  the  nasty  affair,  the  very  thought 
of  which  made  him  spit  out  in  disgust.  Now,  thanks 
to  the  experience  of  Arina  Petrovna  and  the  skill  of 
Ulita,  he  hoped  the  "trouble"  would  pass  without  gain- 
ing publicity,  and  he  himself,  perhaps,  would  learn  of 
the  results  after  all  was  over. 


CHAPTER  II 

PoRFiRY  Vladimirych's  hopes  were  not  realized. 
First  occurred  the  catastrophe  with  Petenka,  then 
Arina  Petrovna's  death.  And  there  was  no  possibility 
in  sight  of  his  extricating  himself  by  means  of  some 
ugly  machinations.  He  could  not  dismiss  Yevpraksia 
for  dissolute  conduct,  because  Arina  Petrovna  had 
carried  the  affair  too  far  and  made  it  too  widely 
known.  Nor  was  Ulita  so  very  reliable.  Dexterous 
woman  though  she  was,  yet  if  he  put  his  trust  in  her, 
he  might  have  to  deal  with  the  coroner.  For  the  first 
time  in  his  life  Yudushka  seriously  and  sincerely  re- 
gretted his  loneliness;  for  the  first  time  he  realized 
vaguely  that  the  people  around  him  were  not  mere 
pawns  to  be  played  with. 

"Why  didn't  she  wait  a  while  to  die?"  Yudushka 
reproached  his  mother  dear.  "She  should  have  fixed 
it  all  up  quietly  and  with  good  sense,  and  then — as 
she  pleased!  If  it's  time  to  die — you  can't  help  it. 
I  am  sorry  for  the  old  woman.  But  if  God  \vills  it  so, 
all  our  tears,  and  the  doctors,  and  the  cures,  and  all 
of  us  are  naught  before  the  power  of  God.  The  old 
woman  lived  long  enough.  She  had  her  day — was  her- 
self a  mistress  all  her  life,  and  left  her  children  a 
gentry  estate.  She  lived  to  old  age — well  that's 
enough." 

And  as  usual  his  idle  mind,  not  used  to  dwell  on  a 

298 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  299 

matter  presenting  practical  obstacles,  skipped  to  the 
easier  topic  that  gave  occasion  to  endless,  unhampered 
verbiage. 

"And  to  think  how  she  died !  Why,  her  death  v^as 
worthy  of  a  saint,"  he  lied  to  himself,  not  knowing, 
though,  whether  he  lied  or  spoke  the  truth.  "Without 
ailment,  without  trouble — just  so.  She  heaved  a  sigh, 
and  before  we  knew  it,  she  was  no  more.  Oh,  mother 
dear!  And  her  smile,  and  the  glow  of  her  cheeks! 
Her  hands  placed  together  as  if  she  wanted  to  confer 
a  blessing.    She  shut  her  eyes  and — good-by !" 

But  in  the  very  heat  of  his  sentimental  babblings, 
something  would  suddenly  prick  him.  That  filthy 
business  again.  Fi,  fi!  "And  really  why  didn't  she 
wait  a  while!  It  was  only  a  matter  of  a  month  or 
so,  and  now,  look  what  she  did!" 

For  some  time  he  attempted  to  pretend  ignorance, 
and  answered  Ulita's  inquiries  just  as  he  had  answered 
his  mother's,  "I  don't  know,  I  don't  know  anything." 

But  Ulita,  an  impudent  woman,  who  had  suddenly 
become  conscious  of  her  power,  could  not  be  dismissed 
like  that. 

"Do  /  know  ?  Have  I  brought  this  business  on  ?"  she 
cut  him  short.  And  then  he  realized  that  from  that 
moment  on  the  happy  combination  of  the  role  of 
adulterer  with  the  role  of  the  unconcerned  observer  of 
the  consequences  of  his  adultery  had  become  quite 
impossible. 

Nearer  and  nearer  came  the  disaster,  inevitable, 
tangible.  It  pursued  him  relentlessly  and — what  was 
worst  of  all — it  paralyzed  his  idle  mind.  He  ex- 
erted all  possible  efforts  to  rid  himself  of  the 
thought  of  the  approaching  calamity,  to  drown  it 
in  a  torrent  of  idle  words,  but  he  succeeded  onlv  in 


300  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

part.  He  tried  to  hide  behind  the  infallibiHty  of  the 
law  of  Providence  and,  as  was  his  custom,  turned  it 
into  a  ball  of  thread  which  he  could  wind  and  unwind 
without  end.  There  was  the  parable  of  the  hair  fall- 
ing from  a  man's  head,  and  the  legend  of  the  house 
built  on  sand;  but  just  at  the  moment  when  his  idle 
thoughts  were  about  to  roll  down  into  a  kind  of  mys- 
terious abyss,  when  the  endless  winding  of  the  ball 
seemed  quite  assured,  a  single  word  suddenly  jumped 
out  from  the  ambush  and  broke  the  thread.  Alas! 
That  one  word  was  "adultery"  and  designated  an  act 
of  which  Yudushka  did  not  wish  to  confess  himself 
guilty  even  to  himself. 

When  all  his  efforts  to  forget  the  disaster  or  to  do 
away  with  it  proved  futile,  when  he  realized  at  last 
that  he  was  caught,  his  soul  became  filled  with  anguish. 
He  walked  back  and  forth  in  the  room,  thinking  of 
nothing,  and  he  felt  that  something  inside  of  him 
trembled  and  ached.  It  was  a  check  that  his  idle  mind 
felt  for  the  first  time.  Up  to  now,  wherever  his  idle 
and  empty  imagination  carried  him,  it  always  found 
boundless  space,  space  that  gave  room  to  all  possible 
kinds  of  combinations.  Even  the  deaths  of  Volodka 
and  Petka,  even  the  death  of  Arina  Petrovna  had  not 
baffled  his  flow  of  idle  thoughts  and  words.  Those 
were  common,  well  recognized  situations,  met  by  well 
recognized,  well  established  forms — requiems,  funeral 
dinners,  and  the  like.  All  this  he  ,had  done  in  strict 
accordance  with  the  custom  and  thus  vindicated  him- 
self, so  to  speak,  before  the  laws  of  man  and  Provi- 
dence. But  adultery — what  was  that?  Why,  that 
meant  an  arraignment  of  his  entire  life,  the  showing 
up  of  its  inner  sham.  Though  he  had  formerly  been 
known  as  a  pettifogger,  even  as  a  Bloodsucker,  gos- 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  301 

sip  had  had  so  little  legal  background  that  he  could 
safely  retort,  "Prove  it!" 

And  now,  all  of  a  sudden — adulterer!  A  known, 
convicted  adulterer.  He  had  not  even  resorted  to 
''measures,"  so  great  had  been  his  confidence  in  Arina 
Petrovna ;  he  had  not  even  worked  up  a  story  to  cover 
the  thing.  And  on  a  Lenten  day  at  that.  The  shame 
of  it! 

In  these  inner  talks  with  himself,  in  spite  of  their 
confusion,  there  was  something  like  an  awakening  of 
conscience.  But  the  question  was  whether  Yudushka 
would  continue  along  that  path  or  whether  his  idle 
mind  would  even  in  this  grave  matter  perform  its  usual 
function  of  finding  a  loophole  through  which  he  could 
crawl  out  and  emerge  unscathed. 

While  Yudushka  was  thus  smarting  under  his  own 
mental  vacuity,  Yevpraksia  was  undergoing  an  un- 
expected inner  change.  Evidently  the  anticipation  of 
motherhood  untied  the  mental  fetters  that  had  hitherto- 
held  her  bound.  Up  to  that  time  she  had  been  indif- 
ferent to  everything  and  regarded  Porfiry  Vladimir- 
ych  as  a  "master"  in  relation  to  whom  she  was  a  mere 
subordinate.  Now,  for  the  first  time,  she  grasped  a 
definite  idea.  It  began  to  dawn  on  her  that  here  was  a 
state  of  affairs  where  she  was  the  most  important 
figure,  and  where  she  could  not  be  driven  about  with 
impunity.  As  a  consequence,  even  her  face,  usually 
blank  and  stolid,  became  lighted  up  and  intelligent. 

The  death  of  Arina  Petrovna  had  been  the  first  fact 
in  her  semi-conscious  life  that  produced  a  sobering 
effect  upon  her.  No  matter  how  peculiar  the  attitude 
of  the  old  mistress  to  Yevpraksia's  prospective  mother- 
hood was,  still  there  were  glimpses  of  sympathy  in  it 
and    nothing   of    the   disgusting   evasiveness    of    Yu- 


302  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

dushka.  So  Yevpraksia  had  begun  to  see  a  protector 
in  Arina  Petrovna,  as  if  expecting  that  some  kind  of 
attack  was  being  planned  against  her.  The  forebod- 
ings of  that  attack  were  all  the  more  persistent  since 
they  were  not  illuminated  by  consciousness,  but  merely 
filled  the  whole  of  her  being  with  vague  anxiety.  Her 
mind  was  not  vigorous  enough  to  tell  her  definitely 
the  point  from  which  the  attack  would  come  and  the 
form  it  would  take ;  but  her  instincts  had  already  been 
so  aroused  that  the  very  sight  of  Yudushka  filled  her 
with  an  inexplicable  fear.  "Yes,  that's  where  it  will 
come  from,"  reverberated  in  the  inner  chambers  of  her 
soul — from  that  coffin  filled  with  dead  dust,  from  that 
coffin  she  had  so  long  been  tending  like  a  hireling, 
from  that  coffin  which  by  some  miracle  had  become  the 
father  and  lord  of  her  child !  The  feeling  this  thought 
awakened  in  her  was  akin  to  hatred  and  would  inevi- 
tably have  passed  into  hatred  had  it  not  been  diverted 
by  the  sympathy  and  interest  of  Arina  Petrovna,  who, 
by  constant  chatter,  never  gave  Yevpraksia  a  chance 
to  think. 

But  Arina  Petrovna  retired  to  Pogorelka,  and  then 
vanished  entirely.  The  feeling  of  anxiety  and  un- 
easiness in  Yevpraksia  became  still  more  intense. 

The  stillness  in  which  the  Golovliovo  manor  became 
engulfed  was  broken  only  by  a  rustle  announcing  that 
Yudushka  was  stealing  through  the  corridors,  listen- 
ing at  the  doors.  Or  sometimes,  some  one  of  the  ser- 
vants would  come  running  from  the  yard  and  bang  the 
door  of  the  maids'  room.  But  then  stillness  would 
again  creep  in  from  all  sides.  It  was  a  dead  stillness 
that  filled  Yevpraksia's  being  with  superstitions  and 
anguish.  And  since  she  was  nearing  her  time,  she  had 
not  even  the  sleepy  feeling  to  look  forward  to  that 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  303 

came  in  the  evening  after  a  day  of  household  chores. 

She  tried  once  or  twice  to  be  affectionate  with  Por- 
firy  Vladimirych  and  engage  his  kindly  sympathies. 
Her  attempts  only  resulted  in  brief  but  mean  scenes 
that  reacted  painfully  even  on  her  crude  sensibilities. 
All  that  was  left  to  her  was  to  sit  with  her  arms  folded 
and  think,  that  is,  be  alarmed.  And  as  to  the  causes 
for  alarm,  they  multiplied  daily.  The  death  of  Arina 
Petrovna  had  untied  Yudushka's  hands  and  introduced 
into  the  Golovliovo  manor  a  new  element  of  tale-bear- 
ing, which  thereafter  became  the  one  thing  in  which 
Yudushka's  soul  reveled. 

Ulita  was  aware  that  Porfiry  Vladimirych  was 
afraid  and  that  with  his  idle,  empty,  perfidious  char- 
acter fear  bordered  on  hatred.  Besides,  she  knew 
very  well  that  he  was  incapable  not  only  of  attachment 
but  even  of  simple  pity,  and  he  kept  Yevpraksia  only 
because,  thanks  to  her,  his  daily  life  flowed  on  in  an 
undeviating  rut.  Equipped  with  these  simple  data, 
Ulita  was  in  a  position  to  nurse  the  feeling  of  hatred 
that  arose  in  Yudushka  whenever  he  was  reminded  of 
the  coming  ''disaster." 

Soon  Yevpraksia  became  entangled  in  a  web  of  gos- 
sip. Uhta  every  now  and  then  "reported"  to  the 
master.  In  one  instance  she  complained  about  the 
wasteful  disposal  of  house  provisions. 

"I  am  afraid,  master,  your  stuff  is  spent  a  bit  too 
fast.  I  went  to  the  cellar  a  while  ago  to  get  cured  beef. 
I  remembered  a  new  tub  had  been  begun  not  long  ago, 
and — would  you  believe  it?  I  look  into  the  tub  and 
find  only  two  or  three  slices  at  the  bottom." 

"Is  it  possible?"  said  Porfiry  Vladimirych,  staring 
at  her. 

"If  I  had  not  seen  it  myself,  I  shouldn't  have  be- 


304  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

lieved  it,  either.  It's  surprising  what  heaps  of  stuff 
are  used  up!  Butter,  barley,  pickles — everything. 
Other  folk  feed  their  servants  on  gruel  and  goose-fat, 
but  our  servants  must  have  it  with  butter,  and  sweet 
butter  at  that." 

"Is  that  so?"  exclaimed  Porfiry  Vladimirych,  al- 
most frightened. 

At  another  time  she  entered  casually  and  "reported" 
about  the  master's  linen. 

"Master,  I  think  you  ought  to  stop  Yevpraksia, 
really.  Of  course,  she  is  a  girl,  inexperienced,  but 
still,  take  the  linen  for  instance.  She  wasted  piles  of 
it  on  bed  sheets  and  swaddling  clothes,  and  it's  all  fine 
linen,  you  know." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  merely  cast  a  fiery  glance,  but 
the  whole  of  his  empty  being  was  thrown  into  convul- 
sions by  her  "report." 

"Of  course,  she  cares  for  her  infant,"  continued 
Ulita,  in  a  mellifluous  voice.  "She  thinks  Lord  knows 
what,  a  prince  is  going  to  be  born.  And  I  think  that 
he,  I  mean  the  infant,  could  well  sleep  on  fustian  bed- 
ding— with  such  a  mother." 

At  times  she  simply  teased  Yudushka. 

"Do  you  know,  master,  what  I  was  going  to  ask 
you?"  she  began.  "What  are  you  going  to  do  about 
the  infant?  Are  you  going  to  make  him  your  son,  or 
will  you,  like  other  folk,  put  him  in  the  foundling 
asylum." 

At  this  Porfiry  Vladimirych  flashed  such  a  fierce 
glance  at  her  that  she  was  instantly  silenced. 

And  amidst  the  hatred  that  was  rising  from  every 
corner,  the  moment  drew  nearer  and  nearer  when  the 
appearance  of  a  tiny,  crying,  "servant  of  God"  would 
in  one  w^ay  or  another  bring  order  into  the  moral  chaos 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  305 

of  the  Golovliovo  manor,  and  would  increase  the  num- 
ber of  the  "servants  of  God"  that  inhabit  this  universe. 

It  was  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening.  Porfiry  Vladi- 
mirych  had  had  his  after-dinner  nap  and  was  in  his 
study  filling  up  sheets  of  paper  with  columns  of  fig- 
ures. He  was  busy  with  the  following  problem  :  How 
much  money  would  he  now  have  had,  if  his  dear 
mother  Arina  Petrovna  had  not  appropriated  the  hun- 
dred ruble  note  his  grandfather  had  given  him  on  the 
day  of  his  birth,  but  had  placed  it  in  the  bank  to  the 
credit  of  the  minor  Porfiry?  It  came  out  not  much — 
only  eight  hundred  rubles  in  notes. 

"It  isn't  a  lot  of  money,  let's  say,"  Yudushka  mused 
idly,  "but  still  it's  good  to  know  that  you  have  it  for 
a  rainy  day.  Any  time  you  need  it — you  can  just  go 
and  get  it.  You  don't  have  to  bow  to  anybody,  or  ask 
fa\  jrs — just  take  your  own  money,  given  to  you  by 
your  grandfather.  Oh,  mother  dear !  How  could  you 
have  acted  so  rashly?" 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  had  allayed  the  fears  that  had 
only  recently  paralyzed  his  capacity  for  thinking  idle 
nonsense.  The  glimmerings  of  conscience  awakened 
by  the  difficult  position  in  which  Yevpraksia's  preg- 
nancy put  him,  and  by  the  sudden  death  of  Arina  Pe- 
trovna, little  by  little  faded  away.  His  idle  mind  had 
done  its  work,  and  Yudushka  had  finally  succeeded  by 
great  effort,  it  is  true,  in  drowning  all  thought  of  the 
impending  "disaster"  in  his  bottomless  pit  of  verbiage. 
One  could  not  say  he  had  made  up  his  mind  con- 
sciously, but  rather  intuitively.  It  was  instinct  in  him 
that  made  him  revert  to  his  favorite  formula:  "I 
don't  know  anything,  I  allow  nothing,  I  forbid  every- 
thing," which  he  applied  in  every  difficulty.     On  this 


зоб  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

occasion,  too,  it  put  an  end  to  the  inner  turbulence  that 
had  briefly  agitated  him. 

Now,  this  matter  of  the  coming  birth  was  of  no  con- 
cern to  him,  and  his  face  assumed  an  indifferent,  im- 
penetrable look.  He  almost  ignored  Yevpraksia,  not 
even  calling  her  by  name.  If  ever  he  did  inquire  about 
her  he  would  say,  "How  about  that  woman^still 
sick  ?"  He  proved  to  be  so  strong  that  even  Ulita,  who 
had  been  through  the  school  of  serfdom  and  had 
learned  quite  a  lot  about  reading  people's  minds,  real- 
ized that  to  battle  with  a  man  who  had  no  scruples 
and  who  would  go  to  any  lengths  was  quite  impos- 
sible. 

The  Golovliovo  manor  was  plunged  in  darkness. 
Only  Yudushka's  study  and  the  side  room  occupied  by 
Yevpraksia  were  illuminated  by  a  glimmering  light. 
Stillness  reigned  in  Yudushka's  rooms,  broken  оп1з-Ьу 
the  rattle  of  the  beads  on  the  counting  board  and  the 
faint  squeak  of  Yudushka's  pencil. 

Suddenly,  in  the  dead  stillness  he  heard  a  distant  but 
piercing  groan.  Yudushka  trembled,  his  lips  quivered, 
his  pencil  jerked. 

"One  hundred  and  twenty  rubles  plus  twelve  rubles 
and  ten  kopeks,"  whispered  Porfiry  Vladimirych,  en- 
deavoring to  stifle  the  unpleasant  sensation  produced 
by  the  groan. 

But  the  groans  w^ere  now  coming  with  increasing 
frequency.  Finally  they  got  to  be  annoying.  It  be- 
came so  diflicult  for  him  to  work  that  he  left  the  desk. 
First  he  paced  back  and  forth  trying  not  to  hear ;  but 
little  by  little  curiosity  gained  the  upper  hand.  He 
opened  the  door  cautiously,  put  his  head  into  the  dark- 
ness of  the  adjacent  room  and  listened  in  an  attitude  of 
watchful  expectation. 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  307 

"My,  I  think  I  forgot  to  light  the  lamp  before  the 
ikon  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  the  Assuager  of  Our  Sor- 
rows," flashed  through  his  mind. 

Suddenly  he  heard  quick  footsteps  in  the  corridor, 
and  he  darted  back  into  his  study,  cautiously  closing 
the  door  and  mincing  on  tiptoe  to  the  ikon. 

A  moment  later  he  was  already  in  ''proper  form," 
so  that  when  the  door  opened  wide  and  Ulita  rushed 
into  the  room,  she  found  him  in  a  pose  of  prayer  with 
folded  hands. 

"I  am  afraid  Yevpraksia's  life  is  in  danger,"  said 
Ulita,  not  hesitating  to  interrupt  Yudushka's  prayers. 
But  Porfiry  Vladimirych  did  not  even  turn  his  face ;  he 
began  to  move  his  lips  faster  than  before,  and  instead 
of  answering  waved  his  hand  in  the  air  as  if  to  chase 
away  an  annoying  fly. 

"What's  the  use  of  waving  your  hand  ?  I  say  Yev- 
praksia  is  doing  poorly.  She  may  die  any  moment," 
Ulita  insisted  gruflly. 

This  time  Yudushka  turned  toward  her,  but  his  face 
was  as  calm  and  unctuous  as  if  he  had  just  been  in 
communion  with  the  Deity,  and  had  cast  off  all  earthly 
cares,  and  did  not  even  understand  what  could  make 
people  disturb  him. 

"Though  it's  sinful  to  chide  after  prayer,  still  as  a 
human  being  I  cannot  keep  from  complaining.  How 
many  times  have  I  not  asked  you  not  to  disturb  me 
when  I  say  my  prayers?"  he  said  in  a  voice  befitting 
his  worshipful  mood,  and  permitting  himself  only  a 
shake  of  his  head  as  a  sign  of  Christian  reproach. 
"Well,  what  has  happened?" 

"What  could  have  happened?  Yevpraksia  is  in 
labor  and  cannot  give  birth.  As  if  you  haven't  heard 
it  before.     Oh,  vou!     Go  and  look  at  her  at  least." 


3o8  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"What  is  there  to  look  at?  Am  I  a  doctor?  Can 
I  give  her  advice,  or  what?  I  don't  know  anything, 
I  don't  know  any  of  your  business.  I  know  there  is  a 
sick  woman  in  the  house,  but  why  she  is  sick  and  what 
her  sickness  is,  that,  I  confess,  I  never  had  the  curios- 
ity to  find  out.  Send  for  the  priest  if  the  patient  is  in 
danger.  That's  one  piece  of  advice  I  can  give  you. 
Send  for  the  priest,  pray  with  him,  hght  the  ikon 
\   lamps.    And  then  I'll  have  tea  with  the  parson." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  glad  that  he  expressed 
himself  so  well  in  this  most  decisive  moment.  He 
looked  at  Ulita  firmly  as  if  he  meant  to  say,  "Well 
refute  me,  if  you  can." 

Even  she  was  baffled  by  his  equanimity.  "Suppose 
you  do  come  and  take  a  look,"  she  repeated. 

"I  will  not  go  because  I  have  nothing  to  do  there.  If 
it  were  business,  I  would  go  without  being  called. 
If  I  have  to  go  five  versts  on  business,  I'll  go  five 
versts,  and  if  ten  versts,  I'll  go  ten.  It  may  be  in  wind 
and  storm,  but  I'll  go.  For  I  know  there  is  business  to 
attend  to  and  I've  got  to  go  w^hether  I  want  to  or  not." 

Ulita  thought  she  was  asleep  and  that  in  her  sleep 
she  saw  Satan  himself  standing  before  her  and  dis- 
coursing. 

"To  send  for  the  priest — that's  business !  A  prayer 
— do  you  know  what  the  Scriptures  say  about  a  prayer? 
*A  prayer  cures  the  afflicted.*  That's  what  it  says.  So 
see  to  it.  Send  for  the  priest,  pray  together,  and  I, 
too,  will  pray  in  the  meantime.  You  will  pray  there, 
in  the  ikon  room,  and  I  will  invoke  God's  mercy  here 
in  my  study.  By  joint  effort,  you  on  one  side,  I  on 
the  other,  we  may  after  all  succeed  in  making  our 
prayers  heard  in  Heaven," 

The  priest  was  sent  for,  but  before  he  came,  Yev- 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  309 

praksia,  in  agony,  delivered  herself  of  the  child.  From 
the  hurried  steps  and  banging  doors,  Porfiry  Vladim- 
irych  understood  that  something  decisive  had  hap- 
pened. And,  indeed,  in  a  few  minutes  hurried  steps 
were  heard  in  the  corridor,  and  Ulita  rushed  in  holding 
a  tiny  creature  wrapped  up  in  linen. 

"Here!  Look  at  it!"  she  exclaimed  triumphantly, 
bringing  the  child  close  to  the  face  of  Porfiry  Vladi- 
mirych. 

For  a  moment  it  looked  as  if  Yudushka  were  hesi- 
tating. His  body  swayed  forward  and  a  bright  spark 
flashed  in  his  eyes.  But  only  for  a  moment.  The  next 
instant  he  turned  up  his  nose  squeamishly  and  waved 
his  hand. 

''No,  no!  I  am  afraid.  I  don't  like  them.  Go 
away,  go  away!"  he  began  to  stammer,  with  infinite 
aversion  in  his  face. 

*'Why  don't  you  at  least  ask  if  it's  a  boy  or  a  girl?" 
Ulita  pleaded  with  him. 

*'No,  no!  What  for?  It's  none  of  my  business. 
It's  your  affair,  and  I  don't  know  anything.  I  don't 
know  anything,  and  I  don't  want  to  know  either. 
Go  away,  for  Christ's  sake,  be  gone!" 

Again  Ulita  felt  as  though  she  were  in  a  nightmare 
with  Satan  standing  in  front  of  her.  It  exasperated 
her. 

"I'll  take  him  and  put  him  on  your  sofa.  Go  nurse 
him !"    That  was  a  threat. 

But  Yudushka  was  not  the  man  to  be  moved.  While 
Ulita  was  threatening,  he  was  already  facing  the  ikon, 
with  hands  stretched  upward.  Evidently  he  was  im- 
ploring God  to  forgive  all  people,  those  who  sinned 
knowingly,  and  those  who  sinned  unknowingly;  those 
who  sinned  in  word  and  those  who  sinned  in  deed ;  and 


ЗЮ  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

he  thanked  the  Lord  that  he  himself  was  not  a  sinner 
or  an  adulterer,  and  that  the  Lord  in  His  grace  had 
led  him  in  the  righteous  path.  Even  his  nose  trembled 
with  the  solemnity  of  his  feeling.  Ulita  observed  him 
for  some  time,  blew  out  her  lips  in  disgust  and  left. 

"God  took  one  Volodka  and  gave  another  Volodka," 
flashed  up  in  Yudushka's  mind  quite  irrelevantly;  but 
he  at  once  became  aware  of  this  sudden  play  of 
thought  and  spat  inwardly  in  annoyance.     ^ 

Soon  the  priest  came  and  chanted  and  burned  in- 
cense. Yudushka  heard  the  drawl  of  the  sexton  as  he 
was  chanting,  ''Oh,  Zealous  Protectress!"  and  gladly 
chimed  in.  Soon  Ulita  came  running  to  the  door 
again  and  shouted,  ''He  was  christened  Volodimir!" 

Yudushka  was  moved  by  the  strange  coincidence  of 
this  circumstance  and  his  recent  aberration  of  mind. 
He  saw  the  will  of  God  in  it,  and  this  time  he  did  not 
spit,  but  said  to  himself : 

"Well,  then,  thank  God !  He  took  one  Volodka  and 
gave  another.  That's  what  God  can  do.  You  lose 
something  in  one  place  and  you  think  it's  gone,  but 
God,  if  He  wishes,  rewards  you  for  it  a  hundredfold." 

At  last  it  was  announced  that  the  samovar  was  on 
the  table  and  the  priest  was  waiting  in  the  dining- 
room.  Porfiry  Vladimirych  became  quite  peaceful 
and  solemn.  The  Golovliovo  priest,  Father  Aleksandr, 
was  a  polite  man,  and  he  endeavored  to  give  his  inter- 
course with  Yudushka  a  worldly  tone.  In  the  land- 
lord's manor  there  were  all-night  vigils  every  week  and 
on  the  eve  of  every  principal  holiday,  in  addition  to  the 
ceremonial  services  performed  every  first  of  the 
month.  That  meant  an  income  of  over  a  hundred 
rubles  a  year.  Father  Aleksandr  was  not  unmindful  of 
this,  nor  of  the  fact  that  the  landmarks  between  the 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  311 

church  lands  and  Yudushka's  lands  had  not  yet  been 
settled  upon,  and  Yudushka,  on  passing  the  church 
meadows,  would  many  times  exclaim,  "My,  what  fine 
meadows!"  So  the  priest's  worldly  behavior  toward 
Yudushka  was  tempered  by  fear,  which  came  out  every 
time  the  priest  visited  the  manor.  He  would  work 
himself  up  into  gay  spirits,  though  he  really  had  no 
occasion  to  feel  happy.  And  when  Porfiry  Vladimir- 
ych  gave  expression  to  heresies  concerning  the  ways  ot 
^rovidence,  the  after-life,  and  so  forth,  the  priest, 
though  not  quite  approving  of  the  heresies,  still  did 
not  consider  them  sacrilegious  and  blasphemous,  but 
ascribed  them  to  the  temerity  of  spirit  characteristic  of 
the  gentry. 

When  Yudushka  entered,  the  priest  hurriedly  gave 
him  his  blessing  and  just  as  hurriedly  pulled  his  hand 
back  as  if  afraid  the  Bloodsucker  would  bite  it.  He 
wanted  to  congratulate  his  spiritual  son  on  the  birth  of 
the  new  little  Vladimir,  but  uncertain  how  Yudushka 
was  taking  the  matter,  he  decided  not  to  congratulate 
him. 

"It's  misty  outdoors,"  the  priest  began.  "By  popu- 
lar signs,  in  which  one  may  say  there  seems  to  be  a 
great  deal  of  superstition,  such  a  state  of  the  atmos- 
phere signifies  that  thawing  weather  is  near." 

"And  maybe  it  \vill  turn  out  to  be  a  frost.  We  are 
foretelling  thawing  weather  and  God  will  go  ahead  and 
send  us  a  frost,"  retorted  Yudushka,  with  a  bustling 
air  of  gaiety,  and  seated  himself  at  the  table,  this  time 
attended  by  the  butler  Prokhor. 

"It  is  true  that  man  in  his  aspirations  strives  to  at- 
tain the  unattainable  and  to  gain  access  to  the  inac- 
cessible ;  and  as  a  consequence  he  incurs  cause  for  pen- 
ance, or  even  veritable  grief." 


'312  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"That  is  why  we  ought  to  refrain  from  guessing  and 
foretelling  and  be  satisfied  with  what  God  sends  us. 
If  He  sends  us  warm  weather,  we  ought  to  be  satisfied 
with  warm  weather;  if  He  send  us  frost,  let  us  wel- 
come the  frost.  We'll  order  the  stoves  heated  more 
than  usual,  and  those  who  travel  will  wrap  themselves 
tight  in  fur  coats,  and  there  you  are — we're  all  warm." 

"Quite  true." 

"There  are  many  nowadays  who  go  circling  round. 
They  don't  like  this  and  they  are  dissatisfied  with  that, 
and  the  other  thing  is  not  after  their  heart,  but  I  don't 
approve.  I  don't  make  forecasts  myself,  and  I  don't 
care  for  it  in  others.  It  is  haughtiness  of  spirit — that's 
what  I  call  it." 

"That's  true,  too." 

"We  are  all  pilgrims  here,  that's  how  I  look  at  it. 
Well,  as  to  having  a  glass  of  tea,  or  a  light  bite,  or 
something,  -we  are  allowed  to  do  that,  for  God  gave  us 
our  body  and  limbs.  Even  the  government  would  not 
forbid  us  that.  *You  can  eat,  if  you  want  to,'  it  says, 
*but  hold  your  tongue.'  " 

"Also  perfectly  true,"  exclaimed  the  priest,  tapping 
the  saucer  with  the  bottom  of  his  empty  tea-glass  in 
exultation  over  the  harmony  between  them. 

"As  I  understand  it,  God  gave  man  reason  not  to  ex- 
plore the  unknown,  but  to  refrain  from  sin.  If  I,  for 
instance,  feel  a  craving  of  the  flesh  or  a  temptation 
of  some  kind,  I  call  my  reason  to  the  rescue  and  say, 
'Show  me,  forsooth,  the  ways  by  which  I  may  over- 
come this  craving,'  and  I  am  quite  right,  for  in  such 
cases  reason  can  really  be  of  great  use." 

"Still,  faith  is  superior,  in  a  way,"  the  priest  of- 
fered in  slight  correction. 

"Faith  is  one  thing  and  reason  is  another.     Faith 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  313 

points  out  the  goal,  and  reason  finds  the  way.  It  goes 
searching  in  every  direction  till  at  last  it  finds  some- 
thing. Take,  for  instance,  all  these  drugs  and  plasters 
and  healing  herbs  and  potions — all  of  them  have  been 
invented  by  reason.  But  we  ought  to  see  to  it  that 
such  invention  is  in  accordance  with  faith,  to  our  sal- 
vation and  not  to  our  ruin." 

'*I  cannot  disagree  with  you  in  this,  either." 

'There  is  a  certain  book,  father,  that  I  read  some 
time  ago.  It  says  that  one  must  not  disdain  the  ofifi- 
ces  of  reason  if  the  latter  is  guided  by  faith,  for  a 
man  without  reason  soon  becomes  the  plaything  of  pas- 
sion; and  I  even  think  that  the  first  downfall  of  man 
came  about  because  the  devil  in  the  shape  of  the  ser- 
pent beclouded  the  human  reason." 

The  reverend  father  did  not  object  to  this  either, 
though  he  refrained  from  assent,  since  it  was  not  yet 
clear  to  him  what  Yudushka  had  up  his  sleeve. 

**We  often  see  that  people  not  only  fall  into  sinful 
thought,  but  even  commit  crimes,  all  becaue  of  lack 
of  reason.  The  flesh  tempts,  and  if  there  is  no  reason, 
man  falls  into  the  abyss.  Man  craves  something  sweet, 
he  craves  gaiety  and  pleasure,  especially  when  it  comes 
through  women.  How  will  you  preserve  yourself 
without  the  aid  of  reason?  And  if,  let's  say,  for  in- 
stance, I  do  possess  reason,  I'll  take  some  camphor  and 
rub  it  in  where  necessary,  and  put  some  in  other  parts, 
and  before  you  know,  the  craving  is  over  as  if- it  had 
never  been  there." 

Yudushka  became  silent  as  if  waiting  to  hear  what 
the  priest  had  to  say  in  response,  but  the  priest  was 
still  uncertain  what  Yudushka  was  driving  at  and 
therefore  he  only  coughed  and  said  quite  irrelevantly: 

''There  are  hens  in  my  yard — very  restless  on  ac- 


34  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

count  of  the  change  of  season.     They  run  and  jump 
about,  and  can't  find  a  place  for  themselves." 

''All  because  neither  birds  nor  beasts  nor  reptiles 
possess  reason.  What  is  a  bird?  It  has  no  worry,  no 
cares — just  flies  about.  The  other  day,  for  instance, 
I  looked  out  of  the  window  and  saw  some  sparrows 
pecking  at  manure.  Manure  is  enough  for  them  but 
not  for  man." 

"Yet  in  some  cases  even  the  Scriptures  take  birds  as 
examples." 

*Tn  some  cases,  that's  true.  Where  faith  without 
reason  can  be  a  man's  salvation,  \ve  must  do  as  the 
birds  do,  pray  to  God,  compose  verses." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  grew  silent.  Though  talka- 
tive by  nature  and  though  the  event  of  the  day  natu- 
rally lent  itself  to  a  lengthy  discussion,  the  most  suit- 
able form  for  the  remarks  on  the  subject  had  evidently 
not  yet  ripened  in  his  mind. 

"Birds  need  no  reason,"  he  said  at  last,  "because  they 
have  no  temptations.  Or,  rather,  they  have  tempta- 
tions but  they  are  never  called  to  answer  for  their  do- 
ings. Birds  lead  a  natural  life.  They  have  no  prop- 
erty to  take  care  of,  no  legitimate  marriages,  hence 
no  widowhood.  They  are  responsible  neither  to  God 
nor  to  the  authorities.  They  have  only  one  lord — the 
cock." 

"The  cock !  That's  true.  The  cock  is  a  sort  of  Sul- 
tan of  ^Turkey  to  them." 

"But  man  has  so  arranged  his  life,  that  he  has  given 
up  the  liberties  granted  to  him  by  nature,  and  there- 
fore he  needs  much  reason :  first,  to  keep  himself  from 
falling  into  sin,  and  second,  not  to  tempt  others.  Am  I 
right,  father?'* 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  315 

"It  is  gospel  truth.  The  Scriptures  advise  us  to 
pluck  out  the  tempting  eye," 

'That  is,  if  you  understand  it  literally,  but  there 
may  be  a  way  of  avoiding  sin  not  by  plucking  out  the 
eyes,  but  by  seeing  to  it  that  the  eye  is  not  tempted. 
One  must  have  more  frequent  recourse  to  prayer,  and 
curb  the  unruly  flesh.  Take  me,  for  instance.  I  am  in 
good  health  and  vigor,  I  dare  say.  Well,  I  have  female 
servants.  Still  that  does  not  disturb  me  in  the  least.  I 
know  I  can't  get  along  without  servants,  well  then,  I 
keep  them.  I  keep  male  servants,  and  female  servants 
of  every  kind.  A  maid  is  needed  in  the  household  to 
fetch  something  from  the  cellar,  to  pour  the  tea,  bring 
in  something  to  eat — well — God  bless  her! — She  does 
her  work  and  I  do  mine,  and  so  we  get  along  very 
nicely  indeed." 

While  speaking  Yudushka  tried  to  look  into  the 
priest's  eyes,  and  the  latter  in  his  turn,  tried  to  look 
into  Y'udushka's.  But  happily,  there  was  a  burning^l] 
candle  between  them,  so  that  they  could  look  at  each 
other  to  their  hearts'  content  and  see  nothing  but  the 
flame  of  the  candle. 

"And  then  again,  I  take  it  this  way.  If  you  become 
intimate  with  your  female  servants,  they'll  begin  to 
have  their  way  in  the  house.  And  you'll  have  squab- 
bles and  disorder  and  quarrels  and  impertinence.  I 
like  to  keep  away  from  such  things." 

The  priest  stared  so  steadily  that  his  eyes  began  to 
swim.  Good  manners,  he  knew,  demanded  that  in  a 
general  conversation  one  should  every  now  and  then 
join  in  with  at  least  a  word.  So  he  shook  his  head 
and  muttered : 

"Tss— " 

"And  if,  at  that,  one  behaves  as  other  folks  do,  as' 


3i6  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

my  dear  neighbor,  Mr,  Anpetov,  for  example,  or  my 
other  neighbor,  Mr.  Utrobin,  then  you  can  fall  into  sin 
before  you  know  it.  Utrobin  has  six  offspring  on  his 
place  begot  in  that  disgraceful  way.  But  I  don't  want 
it.  I  say  that  if  God  took  away  my  guardian  angel,  it 
means  that  such  was  His  holy  will,  that  He  wanted  me 
to  be  a  widower.  And  if  I  am  a  widower  by  the  grace 
of  God,  I  must  observe  my  widowerhood  honestly  and 
not  contaminate  my  bed.    Am  I  right,  father?" 

"It's  hard,  sir." 

"I  know  it's  hard,  but  still  I  observe  it.  Some  say 
it's  hard,  and  I  say  the  harder  the  better,  provided 
God  is  with  you !  We  can't  all  have  it  sweet  and  easy. 
Some  of  us  must  bear  hardships  in  the  name  of  God. 
If  you  deny  yourself  something  here,  you  will  obtain 
it  there.  Here  it  is  called  hardship  and  there,  virtue. 
Am  I  right?" 

"As  right  as  can  be." 

"And  talking  about  virtues — they  are  not  all  of  the 
same  kind.  Some  virtues  are  great,  others  are  small. 
What  do  you  think?" 

"Yes,  quite  possible,  there  may  be  small  virtues  and 
great  virtues." 

"That's  just  what  I  say.  If  a  man  is  careful  in 
his  behavior,  if  he  does  not  speak  vile  words,  if  he  does 
not  speak  vain  words,  if  he  does  not  judge  others,  if, 
in  addition  to  all  this,  he  does  not  vex  anybody  or  take 
away  what  is  not  his — that  man  will  have  a  clear  con- 
science, and  no  mud  can  soil  him.  And  if  anyone 
secretly  speaks  ill  of  a  man  like  that,  give  it  no  heed. 
Spit  at  his  insinuations — that's  the  long  and  short  of 
it." 

"In  such  cases  the  precepts  of  Christianity  recom- 
mend forgiveness." 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  317 

"Yes,  forgive  also.  That's  what  I  always  do.  If 
someone  speaks  ill  of  me,  I  forgive  him  and  even  pray 
to  God  for  him.  He  is  the  gainer  because  a  prayer 
on  his  behalf  goes  to  Heaven,  and  I,  too,  am  the 
gainer,  for  after  I  have  prayed  I  forget  about  the 
whole  matter." 

"That's  correct.  Nothing  lightens  one's  heart  аз 
much  as  a  prayer.  Sorrow  and  anger,  and  even  ail- 
ment, all  run  before  it  as  does  the  darkness  of  night 
before  the  sun." 

"Well,  thank  God,  then.  And  we  should  always 
conduct  ourselves  so  that  our  life  is  like  a  candle  in  a 
lantern — seen  from  every  side.  Then  we  will  not  be 
misjudged,  for  there  will  be  no  cause.  Take  us,  for 
example.  We  sat  down  here  a  while  ago,  have  been 
chatting  and  talking  things  over — who  could  find  fault 
with  us  ?  And  now  let  us  go  and  pray  to  the  Lord,  and 
then — to  bed.  And  tomorrow  we  shall  rise  again. 
Isn't  that  so,  father?" 

Yudushka  rose  noisily,  shoving  his  chair  aside  in 
sign  that  the  conversation  was  at  an  end.  The  priest 
also  rose  and  made  ready  to  raise  his  arm  to  bless,  but 
Porfiry  Vladimirych,  as  an  indication  of  special  favor, 
caught  the  priest's  hand  and  pressed  it  in  his  own. 

"So  he  was  christened  Vladimir,  father?"  said  Yu- 
dushka, shaking  his  head  sadly  in  the  direction  of 
Yevpraksia's  room. 

"In  honor  of  the  saintly  Prince  Vladimir,  sir." 

"Well,  God  be  praised.  She  is  a  good  and  faithful 
servant,  but  as  to  intelligence — well,  she  hasn't  much 
of  it.     That's  why  they  fall  into  adultery." 


CHAPTER  III 

The  whole  of  the  next  day  Porfiry  Vladimirych  re- 
mained in  his  study,  praying  to  God  for  guidance.  On 
the  third  day  he  emerged  for  morning  tea,  not  in  his 
dressing  gown,  as  usual,  but  in  full  holiday  attire,  the 
way  he  always  dressed  when  he  intended  to  transact 
important  business.  His  face  was  pale,  but  radiated 
inner  serenity ;  a  benign  smile  played  upon  his  lips ;  his 
eyes  looked  kindly  and  all-forgiving.  The  tip  of  his 
nose  was  slightly  red  with  elation. 

He  drank  his  three  glasses  of  tea  in  silence,  and  be- 
tween gulps  moved  his  lips,  folded  his  hands,  and 
looked  at  the  ikon  as  if,  in  spite  of  yesterday's  vigil, 
he  still  expected  speedy  aid  and  intercession  from  it. 
Finally  he  sent  for  Ulita,  and  while  waiting  for  her, 
kneeled  again  before  the  ikon,  that  he  might  once  more 
strengthen  himself  by  communion  with  God,  and  also 
that  Ulita  might  see  plainly  that  what  was  about  to 
happen  was  not  his  doing,  but  the  work  of  God.  Ulita, 
however,  as  soon  as  she  glanced  at  Yudushka,  per- 
ceived there  was  treachery  in  the  depth  of  his  soul. 

"Well,  now  I  have  prayed  to  God,"  began  Porfiry 
Vladimirych,  and  in  token  of  obedience  to  His  holy 
will,  he  lowered  his  head  and  spread  his  arms. 

"That's  fine,"  answered  Ulita,  but  her  voice  ex- 
pressed such  deep  comprehension  that  Yudushka 
involuntarily  raised  his  eyes. 

318 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  319 

She  stood,  before  him  in  her  usual  pose,  one  hand 
upon  her  breast,  the  other  supporting  her  chin.  But 
her  face  sparkled  with  suppressed  laughter.  Yudushka 
shook  his  head  in  sign  of  Christian  reproach. 

''I  suppose  God  bestowed  His  grace  upon  you," 
continued  Ulita,  unperturbed  by  his  gesture  of 
warning. 

"You  always  blaspheme,"  Yudushka  blustered. 
''How  many  times  have  I  warned  you  with  kindness, 
and  you  are  the  same  as  ever.  Yours  is  an  evil  tongue, 
a  malicious  tongue." 

''It  seems  to  me  I  haven't  said  anything.  Generally 
when  people  have  prayed  to  God,  it  means  that  God's 
grace  is  visited  upon  them." 

^'That's  just  it — 'it  seems!'  But  why  do  you  prate 
about  all  that  'seems'  to  you?  Why  don't  you  learn 
how  to  hold  your  tongue  when  necessary?  I  am  talk- 
ing business  and  she — 'it  seems  to  me !'  " 

Instead  of  replying  Ulita  shifted  from  one  foot  to 
the  other,  as  if  to  indicate  that  she  knew  everything 
Porfiry  Vladimirych  had  to  tell  her  by  heart. 

"Listen  to  me,  you !"  Yudushka  began.  "I  prayed  to 
the  Lord  all  day  yesterday,  and  to-day  too,  and — look 
at  it  from  whatever  angle  you  wish — we've  got  to  pro- 
vide for  Volodka." 

"Of  course,  you've  got  to  provide  for  him.  He  is 
not  a  puppy,  I  dare  say.  You  can't  throw  him  into 
a  pond." 

"Wait  a  while!  Let  me  say  a  word.  You  plague. 
So  this  is  what  I  say.  Take  it  any  way  you  please, 
we've  got  to  provide  for  Volodka.  First,  we  must  do 
it  out  of  consideration  for  Yevpraksia  and  then  we've 
got  to  make  a  man  of  him." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  glanced  at  Ulita  in  the  hope 


320  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

that  she  might  show  her  wilhngness  to  have  a  good  long 
chat  with  him,  but  she  took  the  matter  plainly  and 
even  cynically. 

"You  mean  me  to  take  him  to  the  foundling  asy- 
lum?" she  asked,  looking  straight  at  him. 

"Oh,  oh,"  exclaimed  Yudushka,  "you  are  very  quick 
to  decide.  Oh,  Ulita,  Ulita!  You  always  do  things 
in  a  hurry  and  without  due  consideration.  You're 
always  ready  to  say  something  rash.  How  do  you 
know  ?  Maybe  I  don't  intend  to  send  him  to  the  found- 
ling asylum.  Maybe  I  thought  of  something  else  for 
Volodka." 

"Well,  if  you  did,  there's  nothing  bad  about  it." 

"This  is  what  I  was  going  to  say.  On  the  one  hand 
I  feel  for  Volodka,  but  on  the  other  hand,  if  you  think 
the  matter  over  and  weigh  it  carefully,  you  see  it's 
impossible  to  keep  him  here." 

"Of  course,  what  will  people  say?  They'll  say, 
*How  did  a  little  baby  boy  come  to  the  Golovliovo 
manor  ?'  " 

"Yes,  they'll  say  that  and  other  things.  And  be- 
sides, to  stay  here  will  be  of  no  benefit  to  him.  His 
mother  is  young,  and  she'll  spoil  him.  I  am  old,  and 
though  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  matter,  still,  in 
consideration  of  his  mother's  faithful  service,  I  would 
also  be  easy  with  him.  You  can't  help  it,  you  know,  the 
little  fellow  will  have  to  be  flogged  for  doing  mischief, 
but  how  can  you?  It's  this  and  that,  and  a  woman's 
tears,  and  screams,  and  all.    Am  I  right?" 

"Yes,  quite  right.    It  is  annoying." 

"What  I  want  is,  that  all  should  be  well  in  our  house. 
I  want  to  see  Volodka  become  a  real  man  in  time,  a 
servant  of  God  and  a  good  subject  of  the  Czar.  If 
God  wants  him  to  be  a  peasant,  I  should  like  him  to 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  321 

know  how  to  plow,  mow,  chop  wood — a  little  of  every- 
thing. And  if  it  will  be  his  lot  to  be  of  a  more  exalted 
station,  I  want  him  to  know  some  trade,  some  profes- 
sion. Children  from  the  foundling  asylum  sometimes 
rise  to  be  teachers." 

'Trom  the  foundling  asylum?  They  are  made  gen- 
erals at  once,  I  suppose." 

"Well,  I  wouldn't  say  generals,  but  still — maybe 
Volodka  will  live  to  be  a  famous  man.  And  as  to  the 
manner  they  are  brought  up  in  there,  it's  excellent. 
I  know  all  about  it  myself.  Clean  beds,  healthy  wet- 
nurses,  white  linen  clothes,  nipples,  bottles,  diapers,  in 
a  word,  everything. 

"Yes,  it  couldn't  be  better — for  illegitimates !" 

"And  if  he  is  placed  in  the  country  as  a  fosterchild, 
well,  that  will  be  just  as  good.  He  will  get  used  to 
toil  from  his  young  days.  Toil,  you  know,  is  as  good 
as  prayer.  We,  you  see,  pray  in  the  regular  way. 
We  stand  before  the  ikon,  make  the  sign  of  the  cross, 
and  if  our  prayer  pleases  God,  He  rewards  us  for  it. 
But  the  peasant — he  toils.  Sometimes  he  would  be 
glad  to  pray  in  the  proper  way,  but  he  hasn't  the  time 
for  it.  But  God  sees  his  labors  and  rewards  him  for 
his  toil  just  as  He  rewards  us  for  our  prayers.  \\'e 
can't  all  live  in  palaces  and  go  to  balls  and  dances. 
Some  of  us  must  live  in  smoky  hovels  and  take  care 
of  Mother  Earth  and  nurse  her.  And  as  to  where 
happiness  lies,  there  are  two  guesses  to  it.  Some  live 
in  palaces  and  in  luxury,  and  yet  shed  tears ;  others  live 
behind  clay  walls  on  bread  and  cider,  yet  feel  as  if  they 
were  in  paradise.     Am  I  right?" 

"Nothing  better  if  you  feel  as  if  you  were  in  para- 
dise." 

"So,  my  dear,  that's  what  we  will  do.     Take  that 


7^22  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

little  rascal  Volodka,  wrap  him  up  warm  and  cosy 
and  go  to  Moscow  at  once  with  him.     I'll  order  a 
roofed  cart  for  you  and  a  pair  of  good  horses.     7Ъе 
road  is  smooth,  straight,  fair,  no  puddles,  no  pitfalls. 
You'll  roll  along  merrily.     But  see  to  it  that  every- 
thing is  done  in  the  best  fashion,  in  Golovliovo  fash- 
ion,  just   the   way   I   like  things   to   be   done.     The 
nipple  should  be  clean,  and  the  bottle,   clothes,   and 
sheets,    and   blankets,   and   diapers — take   enough   of 
everything.     And   if   they  won't   give   it  all  to  you, 
come  and  tell  me.     When  you  get  to  Moscow,  stop 
at  an  inn.     Ask  for  enough  to  eat  and  a  samovar  and 
tea  and  all  that.     Oh,  Volodka,  dear!     What  trouble 
you  are  to  me !     It  breaks  my  heart  to  part  with  you, 
but  it  can't  be  helped,  my  child.     When  you  grow  up, 
you'll  see  that  it  was  for  your  own  good,  and  you'll 
thank  me  for  it." 

Yudushka  raised  his  hands  slightly  and  moved  his 
lips  in  sign  of  inner  prayer.  But  that  did  not  pre- 
vent him  from  glancing  sideways  at  Ulita  and  notic- 
ing the  sarcastic  quivering  of  her  face. 

''Well,  what — did  you  want  to  say  something?" 
''No,  nothing.     Of  course,  you  know — he'll  thank 
his  benefactors — if  he  finds  them." 

"Oh,  you  wicked  thing!  You  think  we'll  place  him 
there  without  a  proper  card?  Why,  of  course,  you'll 
take  out  a  card,  from  which  document  we'll  be  able 
to  find  him.  They'll  bring  him  up  and  teach  him 
sense,  and  then  we'll  come  with  the  card  and  say, 
'Here,  now,  let's  have  our  fellow,  our  Volodka.'  With 
the  card  we'll  get  him  from  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 
Am  I  right?" 

Ulita  made  no  reply.     The  caustic  quivering  of  her 


FORBIDDEN  FAMILY  JOYS  323 

face  showed  more  distinctly  than  before  and  it  exas- 
perated Porfiry  Vladimirych. 

''You  are  a  mean  thing,"  he  said.  "The  devil  dwells 
in  you.  Fi,  fi!  Well,  enough.  To-morrow,  before 
the  sun  is  up,  you'll  take  Volodka  and  quickly,  so  that 
Yevpraksia  does  not  hear  you,  and  set  out  for  Moscow. 
You  know  where  the  Foundling  Asylum  is?" 

"I've  carried  them,"  Ulita  answered  laconically,  as 
if  hinting  at  something  in  the  past. 

"Well,  if  you  are  used  to  it — all  the  better  for  you. 
You  must  know  all  the  ins  and  outs  of  the  place.  Be 
sure  to  place  him  there  and  bow  low  before  the  au- 
thorities— like  this."  Yudushka  rose  and  bowed, 
touching  the  floor  with  his  hands. 

"Beg  of  them  to  make  him  comfortable.  And  be 
sure  to  get  the  card,  don't  forget !  The  card  will  help 
us  find  him  anywhere.  I'll  allow  you  two  twenty-five 
ruble  bills  for  expenses.  I  know  how  it  is — you'll 
have  to  give  some  here  and  put  a  couple  of  rubles 
there.  Ah,  ah,  how  sinful  man  is!  We  are  all  hu- 
man beings,  nothing  but  human  beings!  We  all  like 
sweets  and  dainties.  Why,  even  our  Volodka !  Look 
at  him — he  is  no  bigger  than  my  finger  nail — and  see 
the  money  I've  already  spent  on  him." 

Yudushka  crossed  himself  and  bowed  low  before 
Ulita,  silently  begging  her  to  take  good  care  of  the 
little  rascal. 

Thus,  in  the  simplest  way,  was  the  future  of  the 
little  illegitimate  arranged  for. 

The  next  morning,  while  the  young  mother  was 
tossing  about  in  delirium,  Porfiry  Vladimirych  was 
standing  at  the  window  in  the  dining-room,  moving 
his  lips  and  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  the  win- 
dow pane.     A  cart,  roofed  over  with  mats,  was  leav- 


324  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

ing  the  front  yard.     It  was  carrying  Volodka  away. 

It  climbed  up  the  hill,  drove  by  the  church,  turned, 
to  the  left  and  vanished  in  the  village.  Yudushka 
made  another  sign  of  the  cross  and  sighed : 

"The  other  day  the  priest  was  speaking  about  thaw- 
ing weather,"  he  said  to  himself,  **but  God  sent  us  a 
frost  instead  And  a  fine  frost,  at  that.  So  it  always 
is  with  us.  We  dream,  we  build  castles  in  the  air,  we 
philosophize  proudly  and  think  we'll  excel  God  Him- 
self in  His  wisdom,  but  God  in  a  trice  turns  our 
haughtiness  of  spirit  into  nothingness." 


BOOK  VI 
THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE 


CHAPTER  I 

Yudushka's  agony  commenced  when  the  resource 
of  loquaciousness,  in  which  he  had  so  freely  fhduTged, 
began  to  give  out.  A  void  had  formed  around  him. 
Some  had  died,  others  had  deserted  him.  Even  An- 
ninka  preferred  the  miserable  future  of  a  nom^adic 
actress  to  the  flesh-pots  of  Golovliovo.  Yevpraksia 
alone  remained?"  Uuf.- Yevpraksia' s  conл''ersational 
gifts  were  limited,  and,  more  than  that,  Yevpraksia 
was  now  a  changed  person.  It  was  the  difference 
that  had  occurred  in  her  which  convinced  Yudushka 
that  his  halcyon  days  were  gone  forever. 

Till  tKS"Yevpraksia  had  been  so  helpless  that  Por- 
firy  Vladimirych  could  tyrannize  over  her  without  the 
slightest  risk,  and  her  mental  development  was  so 
backward  and  her  character  so  flabby  that  she  had  not 
even  felt  the  oppression.  During  Yudushka's  har- 
angues she  would  look  into  his  eyes  apathetically,  and 
think  of  something  else.  But  now  suddenly  she 
grasped  something  important,  and  the  first  consequence 
of  awakened  understanding  was  repugnance,  sudden 
and  half-conscious,  but  vicious  and  insuperable. 

Anninka's  stay  had  evidently  not  been  without  re- 
sults for  Yevpraksia.  The  casual  conversations  with 
the  young  actress  had  quite  upset  her.  Previously  she 
would  never  have  dreamed  of  wondering  why  Porfiry 


328  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

Vladimlrych,  as  soon  as  he  met  a  man,  instantly  started 
to  weave  around  him  an  oppressive  net  of  words,  sin- 
ister in  their  emptiness.  Now  she  perceived  it  was  not 
talking  that  Yudushka  did,  but  tyrannizing,  and  it 
would  be  well  Avorth  the  while  to  pull  him  up  short 
and  make  him  feel  the  time  had  come  for  him,  too, 
to  go  easy.  So,  from  now  on,  she  listened  to  his  end- 
-v  less  flow  of  words  and  soon  realized  that  the  one  pur- 
I  pose  of  Yudushka's  talk  was  to  worry,  annoy,  nag. 

"The  mistress  herself  said  she  didn't  know  why  he 
talked  so  much,"  Yevpraksia  reasoned.  "No,  it's  his 
meanness  working  in  him.  He  knows  who  is  unpro- 
tected and  at  his  mercy.  And  so  he  turns  and  twists 
them  anyway  he  wants  to." 

But  that  was  only  secondary.  The  main  effect  of 
Anninka's  visit  was  that  it  stirred  up  the  instincts  of 
youth  in  Yevpraksia,  which  had  hitherto  smouldered  in 
her  undeveloped  mind  and  now  suddenly  flared  up  in 
a  blaze.  Many  things  became  clear  to  her — for  in- 
stance, why  Anninka  had  refused  to  remain  at  Golov- 
liovr  and  why  she  had  said  flatly,  "It's  horrible  here !" 
She  had  acted  that  way  because  she  was  young  and 
wanted  to  enjoy  life.  Yevpraksia,  too,  was  young, 
indeed  she  was!  It  only  seemed  that  her  youth  was 
crushed  under  a  load  of  fat,  in  reality  it  manifested 
itself  quite  boldly.  It  called  and  lured  her;  its  flame 
now  died  down,  now  flared  up.  She  had  thought  Yu- 
dushka would  do  for  her,  but  now  she  perceived  her 
mistake.  "The  old,  rotten  stump,  how  he  got  round 
me !"  ran  through  her  mind.  "Wouldn't  it  be  fine  now 
to  live  with  a  real  lover,  young  and  handsome?  He 
would  hug  me  and  kiss  me  and  whisper  caressing  words 
in  my  ear.  The  old  scarecrow,  how  did  he  ever  tempt 
ine  ?     The  Pogorelka  lady  must  have  a  lover,  Гт  sure. 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE      329 

That's  why  she  gathered  up  her  skirts  and  sailed  away 
so  rapidly.  And  I  must  sit  here,  in  a  jail,  chained  to 
that  old  man." 

Of  course,  some  time  passed  before  Yevpraksia  mu- 
tinied openly;  but  once  on  the  road  of  revolt  she 
did  not  halt.  A  storm  was  brewing  within  her,  and 
her  hatred  grew  each  minute.  Yudushka,  for  his  part, 
remained  in  ignorance  of  her  state  of  mind.  Yevprak- 
sia began  with  general  complaints,  such  as  'Ъе  has 
spoiled  my  life."  Then  came  comparisons.  "In  Ma- 
zulina,"  she  reflected,  "Pelageyushka  lives  with  her 
master  as  a  housekeeper.  She  never  does  a  stroke  of 
work,  and  wears  silk  dresses.  She  sits  in  a  cosy  little 
room  doing  bead  embroidery.  How  I  hate  you  now, 
you  old  fright;  How  I  hate  you,  I  hate  you!"  she 
wound  up  with  a  cry. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  main  cause  of  irritation, 
there  was  another  one,  one  that  was  valuable  because 
it  could  serve  as  a  good  occasion  for  the  declaration  of 
war  against  Yudushka.  It  was  her  confinement  and 
the  disappearance  of  her  son  Volodya. 

At  the  time  of  the  child's  removal  Yevpraksia  had 
been  rather  indifferent.  Porfiry  Vladimirych  had 
curtly  announced  that  the  baby  had  been  entrusted  to 
reliable  people,  and  he  presented  her  with  a  new  shawl 
by  way  of  solace.  Then  life  resumed  its  course,  and 
Yevpraksia  plunged  into  the  mire  of  household  affairs 
with  greater  industry  than  before,  as  if  to  atone  for 
her  unsuccessful  motherhood.  But  whether  the 
mother  feeling  continued  to  smoulder  in  her,  or 
whether  it  was  merely  a  whim,  at  any  rate,  the  memory 
of  Volodka  came  back  to  her,  and  at  the  precise  mo- 
ment when  Yevpraksia  felt  the  breath  of  freedom  and 
it  began  to  dawn  upon  her  that  there  existed  another 


ЗЗО  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

life  different  from  that  at  Golovliovo.  The  occasion 
was  too  good  not  to  be  taken  advantage  of. 

'*To  think  of  Avhat  the  scoundrel  has  done!"  she 
reflected,  trying  consciously  to  work  herself  into  a 
rage.  ''He  has  robbed  me  of  my  own  child.  Just  as 
one  drowns  a  pup  in  the  pond." 

Little  by  little  the  thought  filled  her  mind  complete- 
ly. She  came  to  believe  that  she  had  always  longed 
for  her  child  passionately.  Her  hatred  of  Porfiry 
Vladimirych  fed  on  this  new  and  rapidly  growing  ob- 
session. 

"At  least,  I  should  have  had  something  to  amuse  me 
now.  Volodya,  Volodyushka !  My  dear  little  son ! 
Where  are  you  now?  He  must  have  shipped  you  to 
some  wretched  peasant  woman.  God  curse  them,  the 
damned  gentry.  They  bring  children  in  the  world  and 
then  throw  them  like  pups  into  a  ditch,  and  no  one 
takes  them  to  account.  It  would  have  been  better  for 
me  to  cut  my  throat  than  to  allow  that  shameless  old 
brute  to  outrage  me." 

Her  hatred  was  now  ripe.  She  felt  a  desire  to  vex 
and  pester  him  and  spoil  life  for  him.  War  began, 
the  most  unbearable  of  wars,  squabbles  and  provo- 
cations, and  petty  pricking.  It  was  the  only  form 
'of  warfare  that  could  have  subdued  Porfiry  Vladi- 
mirych. 


f\ 


CHAPTER  II 

One  morning  when  Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  sit- 
ting at  tea,  he  was  unpleasantly  surprised.  He  was 
discharging  masses  of  verbal  pus,  while  Yevpraksia, 
with  a  saucer  of  tea  in  her  hand  and  a  piece  of  sugar 
between  her  teeth,  was  listening  in  silence,  snorting 
from  time  to  time.  Warm,  fresh-baked  bread  had  been 
served,  and  he  had  just  begun  to  develop  a  theory  of 
his  own  to  the  effect  that  there  are  two  kinds  of 
bread,  visible  bread  which  we  eat  and  thereby  sustain 
our  bodies,  and  the  invisible,  spiritual  bread  of  which 
we  partake  for  the  good  of  our  soul.  Suddenly  Yev- 
praksia broke  in  upon  his  discourse  most  uncere- 
moniously. 

^'People  sa}^  Palageyushka  lives  so  well  at  Mazu- 
lino,"  she  began,  turning  her  entire  body  round  to  the 
window  and  swinging  her  crossed  feet  with  impu- 
dent nonchalance. 

Yudushka  Avas  somewhat  startled  by  the  unexpected 
remark,  but  attributed  no  peculiar  importance  to  it. 

''In  case  we  don't  eat  visible  bread  for  a  long  time," 
he  went  on,  "we  feel  bodily  hunger;  and  if  we  don't 
partake  of  the  spiritual  bread  for  some  length  of 
time " 

*'I  say,  Palageyushka  certainly  lives  well  at  Mazu- 
lino,"  Yevpraksia  interrupted  again. 

331 


332  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

Porfiry  Vladimirych,  somewhat  startled,  looked  at 
her  in  amazement,  but  refrained  from  scolding,  evi- 
dently smelling  a  rat. 

"If  Palageyushka  has  a  fine  life,  let  her,"  he  re- 
plied meekly. 

"Her  master,"  Yevpraksia  kept  on  provokingly, 
"rnakes  it  nice  and  easy  for  her,  he  does  not  compel  her 
to  work,  and  dresses  her  in  silk." 

Yudushka's  amazement  grew.  Yevpraksia*s  words 
were  so  preposterous  that  he  was  taken  completely  by 
surprise. 

"A  different  dress  every  day,  one  to-day,  one  to-mor- 
row, and  another  for  holidays.  She  drives  to  church 
in  a  four-horse  carriage.  She  goes  first,  and  the  mas- 
ter follows.  When  the  priest  sees  her  carriage,  he 
has  the  bells  rung.  Then  she  sits  in  her  own  room. 
If  her  master  wishes  to  spend  some  time  with  her, 
she  receives  him  in  her  room.  And  her  maid  enter- 
tains her,  or  she  does  bead  embroidery." 

"Well,  what  of  it?"  asked  Porfiry  Vladimirych,  at 
last  coming  to  his  senses. 

"I  was  just  telling  what  a  pleasant  life  Palageyush- 
ka leads." 

"And  you,  is  your  life  worse?  My,  my,  агепЧ  you 
insatiable !" 

Had  Yevpraksia  left  his  remark  unanswered,  Por- 
firy Vladimirych  would  have  belched  forth  a  torrent 
of  empty  words  to  drown  her  foolish  hints.  He  would 
have  resumed  his  twaddle.  But  apparently  Yevpraksia 
had  no  intention  of  holding  her  tongue. 

"I  can't  say  that,"  she  snapped  back.  "My  life  is 
not  a  sad  one.  Thank  goodness  I  don't  wear  tick. 
Last  year  you  bought  me  two  calico  dresses  and  paid 
five  rubles  for  each.     How  generous!" 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE      333 

"And  how  about  the  woolen  dress  ?  And  for  whom 
was  a  shawl  bought  lately?     My.  my!" 

Instead  of  answering,  Yevpraksia  placed  her  elbows 
on  the  table  and  flashed  on  Yudushka  a  side  glance 
brimming  over  with  such  deep  contempt  that,  unac- 
customed to  such  looks,  he  was  overcome  with  some- 
thing like  dread. 

'*Do  you  know  how  the  Lord  punishes  ingratitude?'^ 
he  mumbled  feebly,  hoping  the  reference  to  God  would 
bring  the  woman  to  her  senses.  But  his  remark  did 
not  placate  the  mutineer.     She  cut  him  short  at  once. 

''Don't  talk  me  blind!"  she  exclaimed,  "and  don't 
drag  in  God.  I'm  not  a  baby.  Enough!  I've  had 
enough  of  your  tyranny." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  grew  silent.  His  glass  of  tea 
stood  untouched.  His  face  grew  pale,  his  lips  trem- 
bled, as  if  trying  vainly  to  curl  up  into  a  grin. 

"These  are  Anninka's  tricks,"  he  said  finally,  though 
without  a  clear  perception  of  what  he  was  saying, 
"It's  she,  the  snake,  who  has  incited  you." 

"What  tricks  do  you  mean?" 

"I  mean  the  way  you  are  talking  to  me.  She,  she 
taught  you.  No  one  else!"  he  foamed  in  a  rage. 
"Give  her  silk  dresses!  The  impudence!  Do  you 
know,  you  shameless  creature,  who  in  your  position 
wears  silk  dresses?" 

"Tell  me  and  I  will  know." 

"The  most — the  most  dissolute  ones.  They  are  the 
only  ones  who  wear  silk  dresses." 

But  Yevpraksia  was  not  impressed.  On  the  con- 
trary, she  answered  him  back  with  saucy  arguments. 

"I  don't  know  why  you  call  them  dissolute.  Every- 
body knows  it's  the  masters  that  insist  upon  it.  If  a 
master  seduces  one  of  us,  well,  she  lives  with  him. 


334  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

You  and  I  are  not  so  saintly  either,  we  are  doing 
the  same  as  the  MazuHna  master  and  his  queen." 

"Oh,  you!     Fie,  fie,  for  shame!" 

Yudushka  stared  at  his  rebelHous  companion  in  utter 
consternation.  A  flow  of  empty  words  came  tripping 
to  his  tongue,  but  for  the  first  time  in  his  Hfe  he  felt 
a  vague  suspicion  that  there  are  occasions  when  even 
talk  is  useless. 

''Well,  my  friend,  I  see  there's  no  use  talking  to 
you  to-day,"  he  said,  rising  from  the  table. 

"Neither  to-day,  nor  to-morrow — never !  No  more 
of  your  tyranny!  I've  listened  to  you  enough;  now 
it's  time  for  you  to  listen  to  me." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  made  a  movement  as  if  to 
throw^  himself  at  her  with  clenched  fists,  but  she  pro- 
truded her  chest  with  such  determination  that  he  lost 
heart.  He  turned  his  face  to  the  ikon,  lifted  up  hi§ 
hands  prayerfully,  mumbled  a  prayer,  and  trudged 
slowly  away  into  his  room. 

The  whole  day  he  felt  uneasy.  He  had  no  definite 
fears  for  the  future,  but  the  feeling  that  something 
had  broken  in  upon  his  well-ordered  life  and  had 
passed  unpunished  greatly  upset  him.  He  did  not 
go  to  dinner,  pleading  ill  health,  and  in  a  meek, 
feeble  voice  asked  that  his  food  be  brought  into  his 
room.  In  the  evening  after  tea,  w^iich  passed  in  si- 
lence for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  he  rose,  as  was  his 
habit,  to  say  his  prayers.  In  vain  did  his  lips  seek  to 
^vhisper  the  customary  words.  His  agitated  mind  re- 
fused to  follow  the  prayer.  A  persistent  enervating 
anxiety  pervaded  his  being,  and  he  involuntarily 
strained  his  ear  to  catch  the  dying  echoes  of  the  day, 
which  were  lingering  in  the  various  corners  of  the 
vast  manor-house.     Finally,  when  even  the  yawning 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE      335 

of  the  people  could  be  heard  no  more,  and  the 
house  was  plunged  in  the  profoundest  quiet,  he  could 
not  hold  out  any  longer.  Stealing  noiselessly  along 
the  corridor,  he  went  to  Yevpraksia's  room  and  put 
his  ear  to  the  door  to  listen.  She  w^as  alone,  and 
Yudushka  heard  her  yawning  and  saying,  ''Lord! 
Savior!  Holy  Virgin,"-  as  she  scratched  her  back. 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  tried  the  knob,  but  the  door 
was  locked. 

''Yevpraksia,  darling,  are  you  there?"  he  called. 

''Yes,  but  not  for  you !"  she  snapped,  so  rudely  that 
he  immediately  retreated  to  his  room. 

The  next  morning  there  w^as  another  conversation. 
Yevpraksia    intentionally    selected    morning    tea    for 
launching  her  attacks  on  Porfiry  Vladimirych.     She 
felt  instinctively  that  a  spoiled  morning. would  fill  the  . 
entire  day  with  anxiety  and  pain.  '' 

"I'd  like  to  see  how  some  people  live,"  she  began  in 
a  rather  enigmatic  manner. 

Yudushka  changed  countenance.  "It's  beginning," 
flashed  through  his  mind :  but  he  held  his  tongue  and 
waited  for  what  would  come  next. 

"It's  fine  to  live  with  a  handsome  young  friend, 
upon  my  \vord.  You  walk  about  in  the  rooms  and 
look  at  each  other.  Not  a  cross  word  exchanged. 
'My  darling'  and  'my  heart' — that's  your  whole  con- 
versation.    Lovely  and  noble !" 

The  subject  was  peculiarly  hateful  to  Porfiry  Vladi- 
mirych. Although  of  necessity  he  tolerated  adultery 
within  strict  limits,  he  nevertheless  considered  love- 
making  a  diabolical  temptation.  This  time,  however, 
he  restrained  himself,  all  the  more  so  because  he  wanted 
his  tea.    The  tea-pot  had  been  boiling  on  the  samovar 


Ззб  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

for  quite  some  time,  but  Yevpraksia  seemed  to  have 
forgotten  about  filling  the  glasses. 

*'0f  course,  many  of  us  women  are  foolish,"  she 
went  on,  impudently  swinging  in  her  chair  and  drum- 
ming on  the  table  with  her  fingers.  ''Some  are  so 
silly  that  they  are  ready  to  do  anything  for  a  calico 
dress ;  others  give  themselves  away  for  nothing  at  all. 
'Cider,'  you  said,  'drink  as  much  as  you  please.'  A 
fine  thing  to  seduce  a  woman  with !" 

"Is   it   from  interest  alone  that "     Yudushka 

risked  a  timid  remark,  watching  the  tea-pot  from 
which  steam  had  begun  to  escape. 

"Who  says  from  interest  alone?  Is  it  I  who  am 
a  selfish  woman?"  cried  Yevpraksia  heatedly,  sud- 
denly shifting  the  conversation.  "Do  you  mean  to 
reproach  me  for  the  bread  I  eat?" 

"I  don't  reproach  you.  I  only  said  that  not  from 
interest  alone  do  people " 

"'I  said'!  Talk,  but  talk  sensibly.  The  idea!  I 
serve  from  interest!  Kindly  permit  me  to  ask  you 
what  particular  advantage  I  have  derived  except  cider 
and  gherkins?" 

"Well,    cider    and    gherkins    are    not    the    only 

things "   ventured  Yudushka,   unable  to   restrain 

himself. 

"What  else  have  I  gotten?  Let  me  hear,  let  me 
hear!" 

"Who  sends  four  sacks  of  flour  to  your  parents 
every  month?" 

"Four  sacks.     What  else?" 

"Groats,  hemp-seed  oil  and  other  things " 

"So  you  are  begrudging  my  poor  parents  the  wretch- 
ed groats  and  oil  you  send  them  ?     Oh,  you !" 

"I  am  not  begrudging  them.     It's  you " 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE      337 

"Now  you  are  accusing  me.  I  can't  eat  a  crust  of 
bread  without  being  reproached  for  it,  and  it's  I  who 
am  blamed  for  everything." 

Yevpraksia  could  hold  out  no  longer  and  burst  into 
tears.  Meanwhile  the  tea  kept  on  boiling,  so  that 
Porfiry  Vladimirych  became  seriously  alarmed.  So  he 
suppressed  his  growing  temper,  seated  himself  be- 
side Yevpraksia  and  patted  her  on  her  back. 

''Well,  well.  All  right.  Pour  the  tea.  What  is 
all  this  crying  for?" 

Yevpraksia  emitted  a  few  more  sobs,  pouted  and 
looked  into  space  with  her  dull  eyes.  "You  have  just 
been  speaking  of  young  fellows,"  he  went  on,  trying 
to  lend  his  voice  as  caressing  a  ring  as  possible. 
'Well— after  all,  I'm  not  so  old,  am  I  ?" 

"The  idea!     Leave  me  alone." 

"Come,  come.  I — do  you  know — when  I  served  in 
St.  Petersburg,  our  director  wanted  to  give  me  his 
daughter  in  marriage?" 

"Must  have  been  an  old  maid — or  a  cripple." 

"No,  she  was  quite  a  presentable  young  lady.  And 
how  she  sang,  how  she  sang!" 

"Maybe  she  sang  well,  but  you  accompanied  her 
badly,"  she  retorted. 

"No,  I " 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  completely  put  out.  He 
was  ready  to  act  against  his  conscience  and  show  that 
he,  too,  was  skilled  in  the  art  of  love-making.  So  he 
began  to  rock  his  body  rather  clumsily  and  went  so 
far  as  to  make  an  attempt  to  embrace  Yevpraksia 
round  her  waist.  But  she  drew  back  firmly  from  his 
outstretched  arms  and  cried  out  angrily  : 

"Do  me  a  favor  and  leave  me,  you  goblin!  Else 
I'll  scald  you  with  this  boiling  water.     And  I  don't 


338  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

want  your  tea.  I  don't  want  anything.  The  idea — 
to  reproach  me  for  the  piece  of  bread  I  eat.  Г11  go 
away  from  here!     By  Jesus,  I  will!" 

She  banged  the  door  and  ran  out,  leaving  Porfiry 
Vladimirych  alone  in  the  dining-room. 

Yudushka  was  completely  puzzled.  He  began  to 
pour  the  tea  himself,  but  his  hands  trembled  so  vio- 
lently that  he  had  to  call  a  servant  to  his  assistance. 

"No,  this  is  impossible.  I  must  think  up  something, 
arrange  matters,"  he  whispered,  pacing  up  and  down 
the  dining-room  in  excitement. 

But  he  turned  out  to  be  quite  unable  "to  think  up 
something"  or  "to  arrange  matters."  His  mind  was 
so  accustomed  to  leaping  unrestrainedly  from  one  fan- 
tastic subject  to  another,  that  the  simplest  problem  of 
workaday  reality  threw  him  off  his  balance.  No  soon- 
er did  he  make  an  effort  to  concentrate  than  a  swarm 
of  futile  trifles  attacked  him  from  all  sides  and  shut 
actuality  out  from  his  consideration.  A  strange  stu- 
por, a  kind  of  mental  and  moral  anaemia  possessed  his 
being.  He  was  constantly  lured  away  from  the  hard 
realities  of  life  to  the  pleasant  softness  of  phantoms, 
whicli  he  could  shift  and  rearrange  at  will  and  without 
any  hindrance  whatever. 

He  spent  the  entire  day  in  solitude,  for  Yevpraksia 
did  not  make  her  appearance  at  dinner  or  at  evening 
tea.  She  stayed  at  the  priest's  the  entire  time  and 
returned  late  in  the  evening.  Yudushka's  distress  was 
extreme.  He  could  not  apply  himself  to  any  task, 
he  even  lost  his  wonted  interest  in  trifles.  One  irre- 
pressible thought  tormented  him :  "I  must  somehow 
arrange  matters,  I  must."  He  could  not  engage  in 
idle  calculations,  nor  even  say  prayers.  He  felt  that 
a  strange  ailment  was  about  to  attack  him.     Many  a 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE      339 

time  he  halted  before  the  window  in  the  hope  of  con- 
centrating his  wavering  mind  on  something,  or  dis- 
tracting his  attention,  but  all  in  vain. 

It  was  early  spring.  The  trees  stood  naked  and 
the  new  grass  had  not  yet  appeared.  Black  fields, 
spotted  here  and  there  with  white  cakes  of  snow, 
str£tched_laii-away.  The  road  was  black  and  boggy 
and  glittered  with  puddles.  Yudushka  saw  it  all 
as  through  a  mist.  There  луаз  no  one  round 
the  rain-soaked  servants'  buildings,  though  all  the 
doors "vTere  ajar.  Nor  could  he  reach  апзюпе  in  the 
manor-house,  although  he  constantly  heard  sounds  as 
of  doors  banging  in  the  distance.  "How  fine  it  would 
be,"  he  mused,  'Ч0  turn  invisible  and  overhear  what 
the  knaves  are  saying  about  me.  Do  the  rascals  appre- 
ciate my  favors  or  do  they  return  abuse  for  my  kind- 
ness ?  You  stuff  their  bellies  from  morning  till  night, 
and  still  they  squeal  for  more.     Only  the  other  day 

we  opened  a  barrel  of  pickled  cucumbers,  and " 

But  no  sooner  did  his  thoughts  embark  upon  the 
exploration  of  some  fantastic  subject,  no  sooner  did 
he  began  to  calculate  how^  many  pickles  the  barrel  held 
and  how  many  pickles  one  man  could  consume,  than 
the  piercing  thought  of  Yevpraksia  brought  him  back 
to  harsh  reality  and  upset  all  his  calculations. 

"She  went  away  without  so  much  as  saying  a  word 
to  me,"  he  reflected,  while  his  eyes  scanned  the  dis- 
tance, endeavoring  to  sight  the  priest's  house,  in  which 
Yevpraksia  was  in  all  probability  chatting  away  at 
that  moment. 

Dinner  was  served.  Yudushka  sat  at  table  alone 
slowly  sipping  thin  soup  (sJw  knew  he  hated  thin  soup 
and  had  had  it  cooked  watery  on  purpose).  "I  imagine 
the  Father  must  be  distressed  by  Yevpraksia's  unbid- 


340  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

den  visit,"  he  reflected.  ''She's  a  hearty  eater  and 
an  extra  dish,  perhaps  a  roast,  will  have  to  be 
served  for  the  guest."  His  imagination  began  to 
run  away  with  him  once  more,  and  his  mind  began  to 
ponder  over  questions  like  these :  How  many  spoon- 
fuls of  cabbage-soup  will  Yevpraksia  swallow?  How 
many  spoonfuls  of  gruel?  What  would  the  Father 
say  to  his  wife  about  Yevpraksia's  visit?  How  do 
they  abuse  her  when  alone?  All  this,  the  food  and 
the  conversation,  hovered  before  his  eyes  with  cor- 
poreal vividness. 

*  I  fancy  they  all  guzzle  the  soup  from  the  same 
dish.  The  idea!  A  fine  place  she  found  to  hunt  for 
knick-knacks.  Outside  it's  wet  and  slushy — just  the 
kind  of  weather  that  breeds  disease.  Soon  she  will 
return,  her  skirt  all  dripping  with  mud,  the  disgusting 
creature.  Yes,  I  must,  I  must  do  something!"  All 
his  musings  inevitably  ended  with  this  phrase. 

After  dinner,  he  lay  down  for  his  nap,  as  usual,  but 
tossed  from  side  to  side,  unable  to  fall  asleep.  Yev- 
praksia came  back  after  dark  and  stole  into  her  nook 
so  quietly  that  he  did  not  observe  her  entrance.  He 
had  ordered  the  servants  to  let  him  know  when  she 
returned,  but  none  of  them  said  a  word,  as  if  they 
had  agreed  among  themselves.  He  made  another  at- 
tempt to  penetrate  into  her  room,  but  again  found 
the  door  locked. 

Next  morning  Yevpraksia  made  her  appearance  at 
tea,  but  now  her  words  were  even  more  alarming  and 
threatening. 

"Dear  me,  where  is  my  little  Volodya?"  she  began, 
speaking  in  a  studiously  tearful  tone. 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  shuddered. 

"If  I  could  have  the  tiniest  glimpse  of  him,  if  I 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE      341 

could  see  how  the  darling  suffers  away  from  his 
mother!     But  maybe  he  is  dead  already." 

Yudushka's  lips  whispered  a  prayer. 

"It  isn't  the  same  as  at  other  people's  here.  When 
Palageyushka  gave  birth  to  a  daughter,  they  dressed 
the  baby  in  batiste  and  silks  and  made  a  pink  little  bed 
for  her.  The  nurse  received  more  sarafans  and  front- 
lets than  I  ever  had.     And  here — oh,  you!" 

Yevpraksia  abruptly  turned  her  head  toward  the 
window  and  sighed  noisily. 

''It  is  true  what  they  say,  that  all  the  gentry  are  an 
abomination,"  she  went  on.  "They  make  children  and 
then  throw  them  in  the  swamp,  like  puppies.  What 
does  it  matter  to  them  ?  They  owe  no  account  to  any- 
body. Is  there  no  God  in  Heaven?  Even  a  wolf 
would  not  act  like  that." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  felt  like  a  man  sitting  on  pins 
and  needles.  He  restrained  himself  for  a  long  time, 
but  finally  could  stand  it  no  longer  and  said  through 
clenched  teeth: 

"This  is  the  third  day  that  I've  been  listening  to  your 
talk." 

"Well,  why  should  you  do  all  the  talking?  Other 
people  have  a  right  to  say  a  word,  too.  Yes,  sir! 
You've  had  a  child.  What  have  you  done  with  it? 
I  bet  you  let  him  rot  in  the  hands  of  a  wretched  peas- 
ant woman  in  a  dirty  hut.  I  suppose  the  baby  is 
lying  somewhere  in  filth,  sucking  at  a  bottle  turned 
sour,  with  no  one  to  take  care  of  it,  and  feed  and 
clothe  it." 

She  shed  tears  and  dried  her  eyes  with  the  end 
of  her  neckerchief. 

"The  Pogorelka  lady  was  right ;  she  said  it's  hor- 
rible here  with  you.     It  is  horrible.     No  pleasures,  no 


342  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

joy,  nothing  but  mean,  underhand  ways.  Prisoners 
in  jail  are  better  off.  At  least,  if  I  had  a  baby  now, 
there  would  be  something  to  amuse  me.  But  you 
have  taken  it  away  from  me." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  sat  shaking  his  head  in  torture. 
From  time  to  time  he  groaned. 

''Oh,  how  painful!"  he  finally  said. 

'Tainful?  Well,  you  have  made  the  bed,  lie  on  it. 
Upon  my  word,  I  shall  go  to  Moscow  and  have  a  look 
at  my  dear  little  Volodya.  Volodya,Volodya !  Da-a-ar- 
ling!     Master,  shall  I  take  a  trip  to  Moscow?" 

"It's  no  use,"  answered  Porfiry  Vladimirych  in  a 
hollow  voice. 

''Then  I'll  go  without  asking  зюиг  permission,  and 
no  one  can  stop  me.     Because  I  am — a  mother!" 

"What  sort  of  mother  are  you?  You  are  a  strum- 
pet— that's  what  you  are,"  Yudushka  finally  burst 
out.     "Tell  me  plainly  what  you  want  of  me." 

Yevpraksia,  apparently,  was  not  prepared  for  this 
question.  She  stared  at  Yudushka  and  kept  silence, 
as  if  wondering  what  she  really  wanted  of  him. 

"So  you  call  me  a  strumpet  already?"  she  exclaimed, 
bursting  into  tears. 

"Yes,  a  strumpet,  a  strumpet,  a  strumpet!  Fie,  fie, 
fie!" 

Utterly  enraged,  Porfiry  \^ladimirych  leapt  to  his 
feet  and  ran  out  of  the  room. 

That  was  the  last  flicker  of  energy.     Then  he  began 

rapidly  to  collapse,  while  Yevpraksia  kept  up  her  cam- 

^  paign.     She  had  enormous  power  at  her  disposal,  the 

;  stubbornness  of  stupidity,   sometmes  truly  appalling 

*■  because  always  trained  upon  the  same  point  with  the 

sole  object  of  annoying,  teasing,  plaguing.     Little  by 

little  the  confines  of  the  dining-room  became  too  nar- 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE      343 

row  for  her.  She  invaded  the  study  and  attacked  Yu- 
dushka  within  the  precincts  of  that  sanctuary,  into 
which  she  would  not  even  have  thought  of  entering 
formerly  when  her  master  was  "busy."  She  would 
come  in,  seat  herself  at  the  window,  stare  into  space, 
scratch  her  shoulder  blades  on  the  post  of  the  window, 
and  begin  to  storm  at  him.  She  was  especially  fond 
of  harping  on  the  threat  of  leaving  Golovliovo.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  she  had  never  seriously  thought  of 
carrying  out  her  threat,  and  she  would  have  been  as- 
tonished had  anyone  suggested  to  her  that  she  return 
to  her  parental  roof.  But  she  suspected  that  Porfiry 
Vladimirych  feared  her  desertion  more  than  anything 
else,  and  she  spared  neither  time  nor  energy  in  taking 
advantage  of  this.  She  approached  the  subject  cau- 
tiously and  in  a  roundabout  way.  She  would  sit  a 
while,  scratch  her  ear,  and  then  remark,  as  if  in  a 
reminiscent  frame  of  mind : 

"To-day,  I  suppose,  thev  are  baking  pancakes  at 
father's." 

At  this  prefatory  remark  Yudushka  would  grow 
green  with  rage.  He  was  just  getting  ready  to  plunge 
into  a  complicated  computation  of  how  much  he  would 
get  for  his  milk  if  all  the  cows  of  the  neighborhood 
perished  and  none  but  his  own,  with  God's  help,  re- 
mained unharmed  and  doubled  their  лпеИ  of  milk. 

"Why  are  they  baking  pancakes  there?"  he  asked, 
trying  to  force  a  smile.  "Goodness,  to-day  is  Memo- 
rial Day !  Isn't  it  stupid  of  me  to  have  forgotten  about 
it?  And  there's  nothing  in  the  house  with  which  to 
honor  the  memory  of  my  late  mother.     What  a  sin!" 

"I  should  like  to  eat  father's  pancakes." 

"Why  not?    Give  orders  to  have  them  baked.     Get 


344  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

hold  of  cook  Marya  or  Ulita.     Ulita  cooks  delicious 
pancakes." 

"Maybe  she  has  pleased  you  in  some  other  way, 
too,"  remarked  Yevpraksia  acidly. 

"No,  but,  oh,  she's  a  witch  at  cooking  pancakes, 
Ulita  is.     She  cooks  them  light,  soft — a  sheer  delight !" 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  evidently  trying  to  mollify 
Yevpraksia,  but  to  no  avail. 

"What  I  want  is  not  yours,  but  father's  pancakes," 
she  answered,  playing  the  spoiled  darling. 

"Well,  that's  not  difficult.  Get  hold  of  the  coach- 
man, have  him  put  a  pair  of  horses  to  the  carriage, 
and  drive  over  to  father's." 

"No,  sir,  that  won't  do.  If  I've  fallen  in  the  trap, 
that's  my  own  fault.  Who  has  any  use  for  one  like 
me?  You  yourself  called  me  a  strumpet  the  other 
day.     It's  no  use!" 

"My,  my !  Isn't  it  a  sin  in  you  to  accuse  me  false- 
ly? Do  you  know  how  God  punishes  false  accusa- 
tions?" 

"You  did  call  me  strumpet !  You  did !  You  did  it 
in  the  presence  of  this  ikon.  How  I  hate  your  Golov- 
liovo !     I  shall  run  away  from  here.     I  shall,  by  God !" 

In  the  course  of  this  spirited  dialogue  Yevpraksia 
behaved  in  a  rather  unconstrained  manner.  She 
swung  about  on  the  chaiivpicked-h€i^-fios©r^nd  scratch- 
ed her  back. -"She^^as  obviously  playing  comedy. 

"Porfiry  Vladimirych,  I  should  like  to  tell  you 
something,"  she  went  on  mischievously.  "I  want  to 
go  home." 

"Do  you  wish  to  pay  a  visit  to  your  parents?" 

"No,  I  mean  to  stay  there  altogether." 

"What's  the  matter?     Has  anybody  offended  you?" 

"No,  but — I'm  not  going  to  stay  here  forever.    Be- 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE      345 

sides,  it's  too  dull  here — it's  frightful.  The  house 
is  like  a  deserted  place.  The  servants  poke  themselves 
away  in  the  kitchens  and  their  own  quarters,  and  I 
sit  in  the  house  all  alone.  Some  of  these  days  I  shall 
be  murdered.  At  night,  when  I  go  to  bed,  strange 
whispers  come  from  every  corner." 

Days  went  by,  but  Yevpraksia  never  thought  of  car- 
rying out  her  threat ;  which  did  not  lessen  its  effect  on 
Porfiry  Vladimirych.  It  dawned  upon  him  that  in 
spite  of  his  labors,  so-called,  he  was  utterly  helpless, 
that  if  there  were  not  someone  to  take  care  of  his 
household  affairs,  he  would  have  no  dinner,  no  clean 
linen,  no  decent  clothing.  Hitherto  he  had  not  been 
aw^are  of  the  fact  that  his  surroundings  had  been 
artificially  created.  His  day  had  passed  in  a  manner 
established  once  and  for  all.  Everything  in  the  house 
centered  around  his  person  and  existed  for  him ; 
everything  was  done  in  its  proper  time,  everything  was 
in  its  proper  place;  in  short,  there  reigned  such  me- 
chanical precision  everywhere  that  he  gave  no  thought 
to  it.  Owing  to  this  clock-work  orderliness  he  could 
indulge  in  idle  talk  and  thought  without  running 
against  the  sharp  corners  of  reality.  Of  course,  this 
artificial  paradise  held  together  only  by  a  hair;  but 
Yudushka,  always  centered  in  himself,  did  not  know 
it.  His  life  seemed  to  him  to  be  built  on  a  rock-bot- 
tom foundation,  unchangeable,  eternal.  And  sudden- 
ly the  edifice  was  about  to  collapse  because  of  Yev- 
praksia's  foolish  whim.  Yudushka  was  completely 
taken  aback.  ''What  if  she  really  leaves?"  he  reflected 
panic-stricken.  And  he  began  to  frame  all  sorts  of 
preposterous  plans  to  keep  her  from  going.  He  even 
decided  on  concessions  to  Yevpraksia's  rebellious  youth 
which  would  never  before  have  entered  his  mind. 


34б  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"Ugh,  ugh,  ugh!"  he  thought,  and  spat  out  in  dis- 
gust when  the  possibility  of  having  anything  to  do 
with  the  coachman  Arkhip  or  the  clerk  Ignat  presented 
itself  to  him  in  all  its  offensive  nakedness. 

Soon,  how^ever,  he  became  convinced  that  his  fears 
were  groundless.  Thereupon  his  existence  entered  a 
new  and  quite  unexpected  phase.  Yevpraksia  did  not 
leave  him,  she  even  abated  her  attacks,  but,  to  compen- 
sate, deserted  him  altogether.  May  set  in,  the  weather 
was  fair,  and  Yevpraksia  scarcely  ever  put  in  ap- 
pearance. She  ran  in  for  a  moment  and  the  next 
moment  had  disappeared.  In  the  morning  Yudushka 
did  not  find  his  clothing  in  its  usual  place,  and  he  had 
to  engage  in  lengthy  negotiations  with  the  servants 
before  he  got  clean  linen.  His  tea  and  meals  were 
served  either  too  early  or  too  late,  and  he  was  waited 
upon  by  the  tipsy  lackey  Prokhor,  who  came  in  a 
stained  coat  emanating  a  peculiarly  disgusting  odor 
of  fish  and  vodka. 

Nevertheless,  Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  glad  that 
Yevpraksia  left  him  in  peace.  He  even  recon- 
ciled himself  to  the  disorder  as  long  as  he  knew  that 
there  was  someone  to  bear  the  responsibility  for  it. 
What  frightened  him  was  not  so  much  the  disorder 
as  the  thought  that  it  might  be  necessary  for  him  to 
interfere  personally  in  the  details  of  everyday  life. 
He  pictured  with  horror  the  minute  he  would  have  to 
■administer,  give  orders  and  supervise.  In  anticipation 
of  that  awful  moment,  he  endeavored  to  stifle  the  voice 
of  protest  that  at  times  rose  in  him,  tried  to  shut  his 
eyes  to  the  confusion  reigning  in  the  house,  and  keep  in 
the  background  and  hold  his  tongue. 

In  the  meantime  open  debauchery  made  its  nest  in 
the  manor-house.     With  the  coming  of  fair  weather 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE      347 

a  new  life  pervaded  the  estate,  hitherto  quiet  and 
gloomy.  In  the  evening  all  the  servants,  both  young 
and  old,  went  out  in  the  village  streets.  The  young 
people  sang,  played  the  accordion,  laughed  merrily, 
screamed  and  played  tag. 

The  clerk  Ignat  appeared  in  a  flaming  red  shirt  and 
an  astonishingly  narrow  jacket,  that  never  closed  over 
his  chest,  thrown  out  like  a  pouter-pigeon's,  while  the 
coachman  Arkhip  took  possession  of  the  silk  shirt  and 
plush  sleeveless  jacket  worn  on  holidays,  obviously 
vying  with  Ignat  in  the  conquest  of  Yevpraksia's 
heart.  The  maiden  herself  ran  from  one  to  the  other, 
bestowing  her  favors  now  on  the  clerk,  now  on  the 
coachman.  Porfiry  Vladimirych  dared  not  look  out 
of  the  window  for  fear  of  witnessing  a  love  scene ;  but 
he  could  not  help  hearing  what  was  going  on  outside. 
At  times  he  caught  the  resounding  blow  that  Arkhip 
bestowed  playfully  upon  Yevpraksia's  back  while 
playing  tag.  At  other  times  he  would  catch  fragments 
of  conversation  such  as  this: 

''Yevpraksia  Nikitishna!  Yevpraksia  Nikitishna! 
Madam!"  the  drunken  Prokhor  would  call  from  the 
steps  of  the  mansion. 

'4Vhat  do  you  want?" 

'The  key  of  the  tea-chest,  please.  The  master  is 
asking  for  tea."  >. 

''Let  him  wait,  the  scarecrow !" 


CHAPTER  III 

In  a  short  time  Porfiry  had  completely  ^ost  all  habits 
of  sociability.  He  no  longer  paid  any  attention  to 
the  confusion  that  had  come  into  his  existence.  He 
demanded  nothing  better  of  life  than  to  be  left  alone 
in  his  last  refuge,  his  study.  He  had  lost  all  his  for- 
mer ways  of  cavilling  with  and  pestering  those  about 
him,  and  he  wasTimorous  and  gluml}^  meek.  All  ties 
between  him  and  reality  were  cut.  To  hear  nothing, 
to  see  nothing,  that  was  his  heart's  desire.  The  be- 
havior of  Yevpraksia  and  the  servants  no  longer 
concerned  him.  Formerly,  had  the  clerk  allowed 
himself  the  least  inaccuracy  in  presenting  his  reports 
on  the  various  branches  of  the  household  management, 
he  would  have  talked  him  to  death.  Now  at  times  the 
reports  were  weeks  late,  and  he  was  unresentful  except 
when  he  needed  some  data  for  his  fantastic  computa- 
tions. But  when  alone  in  his  study  he  felt  himself 
absolute  master,  free  to  give  himself  over  nonchalantly 
to  inane  musings.  Both  of  his  brothers  had  died 
fro. л  drink.  He,  too,  fell  into  the  clutches  of 
drunkenness.  But  his  intoxication  was  mental.  Shut 
up  in  his  study,  he  racked  his  brains  from  early  morn- 
ing till  far  into  the  night  over  fantastic  problems. 
He  elaborated  various  fabulous  schemes,  made  speeches 
before  imaginary  audiences,  and  wove  whole  scenes 
about  the  first  person  that  crossed  his  mind. 

348 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE       349 

In  this  wild  maze  of  fantastic  acts  and  images  a 
morbid  passion  for  gain  played  the  most  important 
part. 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  had  always  had  a  strong  lean- 
ing toward  the  petty  annoyance  of  people  and  liti- 
gation, but  because  of  his  lack  of  practicality  he^ad 
derived  no  direct  profit  from  it.  Sometimes  he  was 
even  the  first  to  suffer.  This  proclivity  of  his  was 
now  transferred  to  a  world  of  abstractions  and  phan- 
toms, where  there  was  no  scope  for  resistence  on  the 
part  of  the  oppressed  and  no  need  for  self-justifica- 
tion. The  dividing  line  between  the  weak  and  the 
powerful  vanished.  In  that  world  there  were  no  police 
or  justices  of  the  peace,  or  rather,  there  were,  but  they 
existed  solely  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  his  own 
interests.  On  this  fantastic  plane  he  could  freely 
enmesh  the  whole  universe  in  his  net  of  intriguing, 
cavilling,  and  petty  oppression. 

He  loved  to  torment  people,  ruin  them,  make  them 
unhappy,  suck  their  blood — at  least,  in  his  imagina- 
tion. He  would  look  over  the  various  branches  of 
his  establishment  and  on  each  build  up  a  fantastic 
structure  of  all  manner  of  oppression  and  plunder — 
a  veritable  paradise,  but  the  foulest  ever  conceived  by 
a  landed  proprietor.  And  everything  depended  here 
on  overpayments  and  underpayments  assumed  arbi- 
trarily, each  overpaid  or  underpaid  kopek  served  as  a 
pretext  for  remodelling  the  entire  edifice,  which  thus 
passed  through  endless  changes. 

When  his  tired  thoughts  were  no  longer  capable  of 
following  out  all  the  details  of  the  intricate  computa- 
tions on  which  his  imaginary  operations  were  based, 
he  applied  his  imagination  to  a  more  plastic  material. 
He  recalled  every  conflict  and  altercation  he  had  had 


350  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

not  only  in  recent  times,  but  far  back  in  his  youth, 
and  he  so  manipulated  his  reminiscences  as  always  to 
come  out  the  victor.  He  took  revenge  on  those  of 
his  former  colleagues  who  had  gone  over  his  head  in 
service  and  had  so  deeply  wounded  his  self-love  that 
he  renounced  his  official  career.  He  revenged  himself 
on  his  schoolmates  who  had  taken  advantage  of  their 
physical  strength  to  tease  or  persecute  him;  on  the 
neighbors  that  had  opposed  his  claims  and  stood  up  for 
their  rights ;  on  the  servants  who  had  offended  him  or 
simply  had  not  treated  him  with  sufficient  respect ;  on 
^'dearest  mamma"  Arina  Petrovna  for  having  wasted 
too  much  of  the  money  that  "by  law"  belonged  to  him 
on  the  repairs  of  Pogorelka ;  on  his  brother  Simple 
Simon  for  having  nicknamed  him  Yudushka ;  on  aunt 
Varvara  Mikhailovna  for  having  unexpectedly  gi\en 
birth  to  children,  with  the  result  that  the  property  of 
Gavryushkino  was  forever  lost  to  the  family.  He  re- 
venged himself  on  the  living  and  he  revenged  himself 
on  the  dead. 

Gradually  he  worked  himself  into  a  state  of  actual 
intoxication.  The  ground  vanished  from  under  his 
feet,  wings  grew  on  his  shoulders,  his  eyes  shone,  his 
lips  trembled  and  foamed,  his  face  grew  ghastly  pale, 
and  took  on  a  threatening  air.  The  atmosphere  around 
him  swarmed  with  ghosts,  and  he  fought  them  in 
imaginary  battles. 

His  existence  became  so  ample  and  independent  that 
there  was  nothing  left  fof^hfm  to  desire.  The  whole 
universe  was  at  his  feet,  that  is,  the  universe  of  which 
his  wretched  mind  could  conceive.  It  was  something 
in  the  nature  of  ecstatic  clairvoyance,  not  unlike  the 
phenomena  that  take  place  at  the  seances  of  mediums. 
His  untrammeled  imagination  created  an  illusory  real- 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE       351 

ity,  rendered  concrete  and  almost  tangible  by  his  con- 
stant mental  frenzy.  It  was  not  faith  or  conviction, 
but  unrestrained  mental  debauchery,  a  sort  of  trance 
in  which  his  tongue  involuntarily  uttered  words  and 
his  body  made  automatic  gestures. 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  happy.  He  locked  up  the 
windows  and  doors  that  he  might  not  hear,  he  drew 
down  the  curtains  that  he  might  not  see.  He  went 
through  the  customary  functions  and  duties  which  had 
no  connection  with  the  world  of  his  imagination,  in 
haste,  almost  with  disgust.  When  the  ever-drunken 
Prokhor  rapped  at  his  door  and  announced  that  dinner 
was  served,  he  ran  into  the  dining-room  impatiently, 
hurriedly  swallowed  his  three  courses  and  disappeared 
again  into  hio  study.  Something  new  showed  in  his 
manners — a  mixture  of  timidity  and  derision,  as  if  he 
both  feared  and  defied  the  few  people  w^hom  he  met. 
He  rose  лтгу  early  and  immediately  set  to  work.  He 
cut  down  the  time  devoted  to  worship,  said  his  prayers 
indifferently,  without  thinking  of  their  meaning, 
crossed  himself  and  went  through  the  other  gestures 
of  worship  mechanically  and  carelessly.  Apparently 
even  the  notion  of  a  hell  with  its  complicated  system 
of  punishments  was  no  longer  present  in  his  mind. 

Meanwhile  Yevpraksia  reveled  in  the  satisfaction  of 
carnal  desires.  Dancing  between  the  clerk  Ignat  and 
the  coachman  Arkhip,  and  also  casting  glances  at  the 
red-faced  carpenter  Ilyusha,  who  was  mending  the  cel- 
lars at  the  head  of  a  gang  of  workmen,  she  did  not 
notice  what  was  going  on  in  the  manor-house.  She 
thought  the  master  was  playing  "a  new  comedy,"  and 
many  a  light  remark  about  the  master  was  passed  in  the 
jolly  gatherings  of  the  servants.  But  one  day  she  hap- 
pened to  enter  the  dining-room  when  Yudushka  was 


352  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

hurriedly  despatching  the  remnants  of  roast  goose, 
and  suddenly  a  kind  of  dread  fell  upon  her. 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  wore  a  greasy  dressing-gown, 
through  the  holes  of  which  the  cotton  interlining  peeped 
out.  He  was  pale,  unkempt,  and  his  face  bristled  with 
a  many  days'  growth. 

"Dear  master,  what  is  it?  What  is  the  matter?" 
she  turned  to  him  in  fright. 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  only  smiled  half  sheepishly, 
half  derisively,  and  the  meaning  of  his  smile  was :  -I!d 
like  to  see  how  you  couldget  at  me  now7'^ 

^-Darhrrg-TrTa^rT'wHaFTr^the-' matter?  Tell  me, 
what  has  happened  to  you?"  repeated  Yevpraksia. 

He  rose,  fixed  on  her  a  gaze  brimming  over  with 
hatred,  and  said,  pausing  after  each  word: 

"If  you,  you  hussy,  ever  dare — enter  my  study — I 
will  kill  you!" 


CHAPTER  IV 

As  A  result  of  this  scene  Yudushka's  life  outwardly- 
changed  for  the  better.  Distracted  by  no  material 
hindrances,  he  gave  himself  completely  over  to  his 
solitude,  so  that  he  did  not  even  notice  how  the  sum- 
mer passed  away. 

It  was  late  in  August,  the  days  grew  shorter;  it 
drizzled  ceaselessly  and  the  soil  became  boggy.  The 
trees  looked  mournful,  with  their  yellow  leaves 
bestrewing  the  ground.  Absolute  silence  reigned 
in  the  court-3^ard  and  about  the  servants'  quarters. 
The  domestics  sat  quietly  under  cover,  partly  because 
of  the  weather,  partly  because  they  finally  perceived 
that  something  was  the  matter  with  the  master.  Yev- 
praksia  came  completely  to  her  senses,  forgot  the  silk 
dresses  and  her  lovers,  and  sat  in  the  maids'  room  for 
hours  on  end,  brooding  and  Avondering  what  she  could 
do.  The  drunken  Prokhor  teased  her  that  she 'had 
designs  on  the  master's  life,  that  she  had  poisoned  him 
and  she  could  not  escape  the  road  to  Siberia. 

Meanwhile,  Yudushka  sat  in  his  study,  deep  in 
reveries.  The  ceaseless  patter  of  the  rain  on  the  win- 
dow-panes lulled  him  half  to  sleep — the  most  favorable 
state  for  the  play  of  his  fancy.  He  imagined  he  was 
invisible  and  was  inspecting  his  possessions,  accom- 
panied by  old  Ilya,  who  had  served  as  bailiff  under 
Yudushka's  father,  and  whose  bones  had  long  since 
been  rotting  in  the  village  churchyard. 

353 


354  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

*'Ilya  is  a  clever  fellow/'  argued  Porfiry  Vladimirych 
with  himself,  glad  that  Ilya  had  arisen  from  the  dead. 
"An  old  servant!  Nowadays  his  kind  is  getting  rare. 
Nowadays  they  know  how  to  chat  and  fidget,  but 
when  it  comes  to  business,  they're  good  for  nothing." 

After  saying  an  appropriate  prayer,  Yudushka  and 
Ilya  pick  their  way  leisurely  across  meadows  and  ra- 
vines, dales  and  hills,  and  soon  reach  the  Ukhovsh- 
china  waste.  For  a  while  they  stand  dazed,  unable 
to  believe  their  own  eyes.  Straight  before  them  looms 
up  a  magnificent  pine  forest,  their  tops  tossing  in  the 
wind.  Some  of  the  trees  are  so  big  in  circumference 
that  two  or  even  three  men  could  not  embrace  them. 
Their  trunks  are  straight,  naked,  crowned  with  mighty, 
spreading  tops — all  signs  of  vigor  and  longevity. 

"What  a  forest,  brother !"  exclaims  Yudushka,  en- 
raptured. 

"This  wood  has  been  protected  from  felling,"  ex- 
plains Ilya.  "Under  your  late  grandfather  Mikhail 
Vasilyevich,  a  procession  with  holy  ikons  went  around 
it.     And  look  how  tall  the  trees  have  grown." 

"How  large  do  you  think  the  forest  is?" 

"At  that  time  it  held  just  seventy  desyatins,  and  the 
desyatin  was  then,  as  you  know,  one  and  a  half  times 
the  present  size. 

"And  how  many  trees,  d'you  think,  are  there  on  one 
desyatin?" 

"I  can't  tell.     Only  God  has  counted  them." 

"I  reckon  there  are  no  less  than  six  or  seven  hun- 
dred trees  to  a  desyatin.  I  mean  the  desyatin  now 
used.  Wait!  If  we  take  the  number  to  be  six  hun- 
dred— or,  let  us  say,  six  hundred  and  fifty  trees,  how 
many  trees  are  there  on  one  hundred  and  five 
desyatins  ?" 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE      355 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  takes  a  sheet  of  paper  and 
multiplies  105  by  65  and  gets  6,825  trees. 

"Now,  see  here,  if  I  were  to  sell  all  this  timber, 
do  you  think  I  can  get  ten  rubles  a  tree  ?" 

Old  Ilya  shakes  his  head. 

"Ten  is  little,"  he  says.  "Look  at  these  trees.  Each 
trunk  Avill  give  two  mill  beams  and  some  planks  and 
boards  and  firewood.  What  do  you  think  is  the  price 
of  a  mill-wheel  beam?" 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  makes  believe  he  does  not  know, 
although  he  figured  out  everything  to  a  kopek  long 
ago. 

"Here,"  continues  the  peasant,  "a  beam  is  worth 
ten  rubles,  but  if  we  take  it  to  Moscow  it  will  be  worth 
its  weight  in  gold.  It  is  a  tremendous  beam.  You 
will  hardly  haul  it  on  a  three-horse  team.  And  think 
of  the  second  beam  that  can  be  made  out  of  the  stem, 
and  the  boards  and  laths  and  firewood,  and  branches. 
Twenty  rubles,  I  should  think,  is  the  lowest  price  for 
a  tree." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  listens  and  takes  in  his  words 
greedily.  A  clever,  faithful  servant  this  Ilya.  And 
how  well  he  has  picked  out  his  help!  Old  Vavilo, 
Ilya's  assistant — he  too  has  been  resting  in  the  church- 
yard for  a  good  many  years — is  quite  worthy  of  his 
superior.  The  foresters,  too,  are  all  tried,  stalwart 
men,  and  the  hounds  at  the  corn  lofts  are  fierce.  Both 
the  men  and  the  dogs  are  ready  to  grapple  with  the 
devil  himself  for  the  master's  good. 

"Let's  figure  out,  brother.  If  we  sell  the  whole 
forest,  what  will  it  come  to?" 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  again  makes  a  mental  calcula- 
tion of  the  value  of  a  large  beam,  a  smaller  beam,  a 
plank,  a  lath,  the  firewood  and  the  branches.     He  adds 


35б  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

up,  multiplies,  now  omitting  fractions,  now  adding 
them.     Columns  of  numbers  fill  the  sheet. 

"Here  is  the  total,  brother,"  says  Yudushka,  show- 
ing Ilya's  phantom  an  altogether  fabulous  sum.  The 
old  servant  is  dazed. 

'*Is  it  not  a  little  too  large?"  he  says,  pensively 
shrugging  his  shoulders. 

But  Porfiry  Vladimirych  has  already  cast  off  all 
doubts  and  giggles  gleefully. 

''You  are  a  queer  fellow,  brother !"  he  exclaims.  "It 
isn't  I  who  say  it,  it's  the  number  that  says  it.  There 
is  a  science  called  arithmetic.  It  never  tells  a  lie, 
brother !  Well,  this  will  do  for  Ukhovshchina.  Now 
let's  have  a  look  at  Lisy-Yamy,  brother.  It's  a  long 
time  since  I  have  been  there.  I  have  a  strong  sus- 
picion the  peasants  have  become  thievish.  There's 
Garanka,  the  guard — I  know,  I  know.  Garanka  is  a 
good,  faithful  guard,  that's  true  enough.  Still,  you 
know.  It  seems  to  me  he  is  not  what  he  used  to  be 
either." 

They  plough  noiselessly  and  unseen  through  a  birch 
thicket,  and  stop  suddenly,  holding  their  breath.  A 
peasant's  cart  lies  sprawling  across  the  road  on  its 
side,  and  the  peasant  is  standing  by,  looking  at  the 
broken  axle  in  perplexity.  He  has  been  standing  there 
for  some  time,  cursing  the  axle  and  himself  and  whip- 
ping the  horse  now  and  then.  Fmally  he  sees  he  can- 
not loaf  there  all  day  long.  He  looks  around  and 
pricks  up  his  ears  to  make  sure  no  one  is  coming  along 
the  road.  Then  he  selects  a  suitable  birch  tree,  and 
takes  out  an  axe.  Meanwhile  Yudushka  stands  mo- 
tionless and  watches.  The  young  birch  shudders, 
sways  and  suddenly  sinks  to  the  ground  like  a  sheaf 
of  corn,  reaped  by  the  sickle.     The  thief  is  about  to 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE      357 

lop  off  the  length  of  an  axle  from  the  trunk,  but  Yu- 
dushka  has  decided  that  the  moment  has  come.  He 
steals  upon  him  and  in  a  trice  snatches  the  axe  from 
his  hand. 

"Ah!"  is  all  the  thief,  taken  red-handed,  has  time 
to  exclaim. 

''All !"  Yudushka  mimics  him.  "Are  you  allowed 
to  steal  timber  ?  'Ah !'  Is  it  your  birch-tree  you  have 
just  felled?" 

"Forgive  me,  sir!" 

"I  forgave  everyone  long  ago,  brother.  1  am  my- 
self a  sinner  before  the  Lord  and  I  dare  not  judge 
another.  It  is  the  law,  not  I,  that  condemns  you. 
Take  the  tree  you  have  felled  to  the  manor-house  and 
pay  up  a  fine  of  one  ruble.  In  the  meantime,  I  shall 
keep  your  axe.  Don't  you  worry,  it  is  in  good  hands, 
brother." 

Glad  that  he  was  able  to  prove  to  Ilya  how  well- 
grounded  were  his  suspicions  in  regard  to  Garanka, 
Yudushka  transports  himself  in  imagination  to  the 
forester's  cottage  and  reprimands  him  soundly.  On 
his  way  back  home  he  catches  three  hens  belonging 
to  peasants  in  the  act  of  feeding  on  his  oats. 

Back  in  his  study,  he  falls  again  to  work,  and  a 
peculiar  system  of  household  management  is  suddenly 
born  in  his  brain.  The  system  is  based  on  the  as- 
sumption that  all  mankind  suddenly  has  begun  to 
steal  his  wood  and  damage  his  fields  by  letting  cattle 
graze  upon  them.  But  this  does  not  grieve  Yudushka, 
on  the  contrary  he  rubs  his  hands  in  delight. 

"Let  your  cattle  graze  on  my  fields,  fell  my  trees. 
I  shall  be  the  better  off  for  it,"  he  repeats,  hugely 
pleased.  Then  he  takes  a  fresh  sheet  of  paper  and 
resumes  his  ciphering  and  reckoning.     The  problems 


358  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

to  be  solved  are  these:  First,  how  much  oats  grows 
on  one  desyatin  and  what  will  the  fines  amount  to  if 
the  peasants'  hens  scratch  the  oats  up?  And,  second, 
how  many  birches  grow  in  Lisy-Yamy  and  how  much 
money  can  they  bring  in  if  the  peasants  fell  them  ille- 
gally and  pay  the  fine?  ''A  birch,  though  felled,"  re- 
flects Yudushka  gleefully,  "will  in  the  end  get  to  the 
house  and  be  used  as  firewood — firewood  free  of 
charge,  mind  you!" 

Long  rows  of  figures  appear  on  the  paper.  Yudush- 
ka becomes  so  tired  and  excited  that  he  rises  from  the 
table  all  perspiring  and  lies  down  on  the  sofa  to  rest. 
Here  his  imagination  does  not  cease  its  work,  it  merely 
selects  an  easier  theme. 

"Mamma  was  a  clever  woman,  mamma  was,"  muses 
Porfiry  Vladimirych.  "She  knew  hew  to  be  exacting 
and  how  to  set  one  at  ease — that  is  why  people  served 
her  so  willingly.  Still  she  was  not  without  sins.  Oh, 
yes,  she  had  plenty  of  them." 

No  sooner  does  Yudushka  think  of  Arina  Petrovna 
than  she  appears  before  him  in  person,  coming  straight 
from  the  grave. 

"I  don't  know,  my  friend,  I  don't  know  what  fault 
you  have  to  find  with  me,"  she  says  dejectedly,  "it 
seems  to  me  that  I " 

"I  know,  I  know,"  Yudushka  cuts  her  short  un- 
ceremoniously. "Let  me  be  frank  and  thrash  out  the 
matter  with  you.  For  instance,  why  did  you  not  stop 
Aunt  Varvara  Mikhailovna  that  time?" 

"But  how  in  the  world  could  I  stop  her  ?  She  was 
of  age,  and  she  had  the  full  right  to  dispose  of  her- 
self." 

"Oh,  no,  permit  me,  mother  dear.  What  sort  of 
a  husband  had  she?     An  old  drunkard,  not  much  of 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE       359 

a  man,  I  should  say.  Nevertheless,  they  had  four 
children.  Where  did  they  come  from,  I'm  asking- 
you?" 

''But  how  strangely  you  speak,  my  friend.  As  if  I 
were  the  cause  of  it  all." 

"Cause  or  no  cause,  you  could  have  influenced  her. 
You  ought  to  have  treated  her  kindly,  she  would  have 
been  shamed  by  you.  But  you  did  the  contrary.  You 
kept  on  scolding  her  and  calling  her  shameless,  and 
you  suspected  almost  every  man  in  the  neighborhood 
of  being  her  lover.  Of  course,  she  kicked  up  the 
dust.  It's  a  pity.  The  Goryushkino  estate  would 
have  been  ours  now." 

"You  cannot  forget  that  Goryushkino,"  says  Arina 
Petrovna,  evidently  brought  to  a  standstill. 

"What  do  I  care  for  Goryushkino?  I  don't  need 
anything.  If  I  have  enough  to  buy  a  church  candle 
and  some  oil  for  the  image  lamp,  I  am  satisfied.  But 
what  about  justice,  dear  mamma,  justice?  Yes, 
mother  dear,  I  would  be  glad  to  hold  my  tongue,  but 
I  cannot  help  being  frank  with  you.  There's  a  sin 
on  your  conscience,  a  great  sin,  indeed." 

Arina  Petrovna  does  not  answer,  and  it  is  impos- 
sible to  tell  whether  she  is  dejected  or  merely  per- 
plexed. 

"Another  thing,"  Yudushka  goes  on,  evidently  rev- 
eling in  mother  dear's  embarrassment.  "Why  did 
you  buy  a  house  for  brother  Stepan?" 

"I  had  to,  my  friend.  I  had  to  give  him  some 
share,"  says  Arina  Petrovna,  trying  to  defend  herself. 

"And  he  squandered  it  away,  of  course.  As  if  vou 
did  not  know  him!  You  knew  he  was  a  loafer,  a  dis- 
respectful, foul-mouthed  scamp.  And  to  think  that 
you  wanted  to  give  him  the  Vologda  village,  too.     A 


Збо  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

neat  little  estate  with  a  nice  little  forest  and  a  tiny 
lake,  lying  like  a  shelled  egg — Christ  be  with  it !  It  is 
well  that  I  happened  to  be  around  and  kept  you  from 
taking  that  imprudent  step.  Ah,  mamma  dear,  mamma 
dear,  how  could  you?" 

"But  he  was  a  son  of  mine,  you  understand? 
A  son !" 

"I  know,  I  understand  very  well.  And  still,  I 
repeat,  you  ought  not  to  have  done  it.  You  paid 
twelve  thousand  for  the  house — where  is  the  money? 
And  Goryushkino  is  worth  at  least  fifteen  thousand. 
So  the  loss  comes  to  quite  a  sum." 

"Well,  that  will  do,  that  will  do.  Don't  be  angry 
with  me,  please  don't !" 

"I  am  not  angry,  dearest  mother,  I  am  only  uphold- 
ing the  cause  of  justice.  What's  true  is  true — and  I 
loathe  falsehood.  I  was  born  with  truth,  have  lived 
Avith  truth,  and  with  truth  I  shall  die.  God  loves 
truth  and  He  would  have  us,  too,  love  it.  Take  the 
case  of  Pogorelka,  for  instance.  I  shall  always  say 
you  invested  too  much  money  in  it." 

"But  I  myself  lived  there." 

Yudushka  clearly  reads  "You  silly  Bloodsucker!" 
on  his  mother's  face;  but  he  makes  believe  he  does 
not  see. 

"Well,  yes,  you  lived  there — still — the  image-case 
is  in  Pogorelka.  Whose  is  it,  I'd  like  to  know.  And 
the  pony  and  the  teargaddy.  I  saw  that  tea-caddy  at 
Golovliovo  with  my  own  eyes,  when  papa  was  still 
alive.     What  a  beautiful  little  box!" 

"Well,  but " 

"No,  dearest  mother,  let  me  speak.  Of  course  it 
looks  like  a  trifling  matter,  but  a  ruble  here,  half  a 
ruble  there,  come  to  quite  a  sum  in  the  end.     Let  me 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE      361 

use  exact  figures  and  make  it  clear  to  you.     Figures  A 
are  holy,  they  never  lie."  !i 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  runs  over  to  the  table  with  the 
intention  of  finally  determining  the  exact  amount  of 
loss  that  his  mother  dear  had  caused  him  to  sustain. 
He  manipulates  the  counting-board,  covers  sheets  of 
paper  with  rows  of  figures,  arms  himself  to  convict 
Arina  Petrovna.  But  fortunately_for  her  his_waver- 
ing  thoughts  cannot  remain  fixed  on  one'subject  for 
a  long  tirne!  Dnnoticed  by  himself  a  new  thought 
enters  his  mind  and,  as  if  by  magic,  gives  an  entirely 
different  trend  to  his  ideas.  The  image  of  his  mother, 
a  minute ^^oTso  clear  before  his  eyes,  suddenly  drops 
away.  He  forgets  her,  his  notions  become  confused, 
other  notions  enter  his  mind. 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  has  long  had  the  intention  of 
figuring  out  what  his  crops  could  bring  him  in.  The 
opportune  moment  is  here.  He  knows  the  peasant  is 
always  in  want,  is  always  on  the  lookout  to  borrow 
provender  and  always  pays  his  debts  with  interest. 
^He  knows  also  that  the  peasant  is  especially  generous 
with  his  work,  which  "costs  him  nothing,"  and  is  not 
considered  as  possessing  any  value  in  settling  accounts. 
There  are  many  needy  people  in  Russia,  oh,  how 
many !  There  are  many  people  who  do  not  know  what 
the  next  day  will  bring  them,  who  see  nothing  but 
despair  and  emptiness  wherever  the}^  turn  their  weary 
eyes,  and  who  hear  everywhere  only  one  clamor :  'Tay 
your  debt !  Pay  your  debt !"  It  is  around  these  shift- 
less, utterly  destitute  men  that  Yudushka  weaves  his 
net,  with  a  delight  passing  sometimes  into  an  orgy. 

It  is  April,  and  the  peasant  as  usual  has  nothing 
to  eat.  "You  have  gobbled  up  all  your  crops,  my  dear 
fellows,"  Porfiry  Vladimirych  muses.    "All  winter  you 


Зб2  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

feasted,  and  in  spring  your  stomach  is  shrivelled  from 
hunger."  He  has  just  settled  the  accounts  of  last 
year's  crops.  The  threshing  was  completed  in  Febru- 
ary, the  grain  was  in  the  granaries  in  March,  and  the 
amount  was  recorded  in  the  numerous  books  the  other 
day.  Yudushka  stands  at  the  window  and  waits.  On 
the  bridge  afar  off  the  peasant  Foka  appears  in  his 
cart.  At  the  bend  of  the  road  leading  to  Golovliovo 
he  shakes  the  reins  rather  hastily,  and  for  Avant  of 
a  whip  hits  his  battered  jade  лvith  his  fist. 

"He's  heading  here,"  whispers  Yudushka.  "Look 
at  the  horse.  A  wonder  it  can  drag  its  feet.  But  if 
you  had  fed  it  well  a  month  or  two,  it  would  become 
quite  a  horse.  You  might  get  twenty-five  rubles  for 
it,  or  even  as  much  as  thirty." 

Meanwhile  Foka  drives  up  to  the  servants'  house. 
He  ties  the  animal  to  the  hedge,  throws  it  a  handful 
of  hay,  and  a  minute  later  stands  in  the  maids'  quar- 
ters, shifting  from  one  foot  to  another.  It  is  in  the 
maids'  quarters  that  Porfiry  Vladimirych  usually  re- 
ceives such  visitors. 

"Well,  friend,  how  are  things  going?" 

"Please  sir,  what  I  need  is  some  corn." 

"How's  that?  Are  you  through  with  your  own? 
What  a  pity!  If  you  drank  less  vodka,  and  worked 
more,  and  prayed  to  God,  the  soil  would  feel  it.  Where 
one  grain  grows  now,  two  grains  would  grow.  Then 
there  would  be  no  need  for  you  to  borrow." 

Foka  smiles  vaguely,  instead  of  replying. 

"You  think  if  God  is  far  from  us.  He  does  not  see?"' 
Porfiry  Vladimirych  goes  on  moralizing.  "God  is 
here  and  there  and  everywhere,  he  is  with  us  while 
w^e  are  talking  here.  He  sees  everything  and  hears 
everything,  he  only  pretends  not  to  see  things.     'Let 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE      363 

my  creatures  live  after  their  own  way,  and  we  shall 
see  whether  they  will  remember  me.'  And  we  sinners 
take  advantage  of  that,  and  instead  of  buying  a  candle 
for  God  from  our  meager  means,  we  keep  on  going  to 
the  public-house.  That's  why  God  gives  us  no  corn. 
Am  I  not  right,  friend?" 

"You  are  quite  right,  sir.     There's  no  denying  it." 

"Well,  you  see,  you  understand  it  now.  And  why 
is  it  that  you  understand  it?  Because  the  Lord  with- 
drew His  mercy  from  you.  If  you  had  had  an  abun- 
dant crop  of  corn,  you  would  carry  on  again,  but  since 
God " 

"Right,  sir,  and  if " 

"Wait  a  minute.  Let  me  say  a  word.  The  Lord 
recalls  Himself  to  ^hose  who  forgot  Him.  That  is 
always  the  case.  And  we  must  not  grumble  over  it, 
but  understand  that  God  does  it  for  our  good.  Were 
we  to  remember  God,  He  would  never  forget  us.  He 
would  grant  us  everything,  corn  and  oats  and  pota- 
toes— more  than  we  need.  And  He  would  take  care 
of  our  animals.  Look  at  your  horse.  It  is  skin  and 
bones.  And  if  you  have  chickens.  He  would  keep 
them  in  condition,  too." 

"You  are  quite  right,  sir." 

"Man's  first  duty  is  to  honor  God,  man's  second 
duty  is  to  honor  his  superiors,  those  who  have  been 
distinguished  by  the  czars  themselves — the  gentry,  for 
instance." 

"It  seems  to  me,  sir,  that  I " 

"That's  just  it,  4t  seems  to  me.'  But  give  a  little 
thought  to  the  matter,  and  you  will  find  out  that  it's 
all  different.  Now  when  you  have  come  to  borrow 
corn  you  are  very  respectful  and  bland.  But  two  years 
ago,  you  remember,  when   I   needed  harvesters  and 


Зб4  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

came  to  you  peasants  to  ask  for  help,  what  did  you 
answer?  'We  have  to  harvest  ourselves/  you  said. 
'It  is  not  the  way  it  used  to  be/  you  said,  'when  we 
worked  for  the  landlords.  Now  we  are  free !'  Free, 
.  and  no  corn !" 

Yudushka  looks  at  Foka,  but  Foka  does  not  stir. 

"You  are  very  proud,  that's  why  you  have  no  luck. 
Take  me,  for  example.  The  Lord  has  blessed  me,  and 
the  Czar  has  distinguished  me.  But  I  am  not  proud. 
How  can  I  be?  What  am  I  but  a  worm,  a  moth,  a 
nothing.  God  took  and  blessed  me  for  my  humility. 
He  loaded  me  with  favors,  and  put  it  into  the  Czar's 
mind  to  favor  me,  too/* 

"Porfiry  Vladimirych,  I  think  that  under  serfdom 
we  were  far  better  off,"  Foka  remarks,  playing  the 
flatterer. 

'*Yes,  brother,  those  were  fine  days  for  you  peas- 
ants. You  had  plenty  of  everything,  corn  and  hay  and 
potatoes.  But  why  recall  the  old  times?  I  am  not 
rancorous.  I  have  long  forgotten  about  the  harvest- 
ers. I  only  mentioned  them  in  passing.  Let  me  see 
— did  you  say  you  needed  corn?" 

"Yes,  I  did,  sir." 

"You  have  come  to  buy  some,  have  you?" 

"How  can  Г?  I  should  like  to  borrow  some  until 
the  new  corn  comes." 

"My,  my !  Corn  is  not  to  be  had  for  money  nowa- 
days.    I  really  don't  know  what  to  do  with  you." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  ponders  for  a  while,  as  if 
really  perplexed. 

"I  can  lend  you  some  corn,  my  friend,"  he  finally 
says.  "I  have  none  for  sale,  for  I  loathe  to  traffic  in 
God's  gifts.  But  I  will  gladly  lend  you  some  corn. 
To-day  I'll  lend  to  you,  to-morrow  you'll  lend  to  me. 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE       365 

To-day  I  have  plenty.  Take  some,  help  yourself.  You 
want  a  measure  of  corn?  Take  a  measure.  You 
want  half  a  measure?  Take  half  a  measure.  To- 
morrow may  find  me  knocking  at  your  window  say- 
ing, 'Dear  Foka,  lend  me  half  a  measure  of  corn,  I 
have  nothing  to  eat.'  " 

"ЮЪ.,  sir,  will  you  come  to  me?" 

"I  shall  not.  That  was  merely  an  example.  The 
world  has  seen  greater  reverses.  There  was  Napo- 
leon, about  whom  the  newspapers  have  written  so 
much.  That's  how  it  is,  brother.  So  how  much 
corn  do  you  want?" 

"A  measure,  if  you  please." 

"Well,  I  can  let  you  have  a  measure.  Only  let  me 
warn  you,  corn  is  tremendously  dear  nowadays.  This 
is  what  we  are  going  to  do :  I  shall  give  you  six  chet- 
veriks,  and  in  eight  months  you  will  deliver  a  measure 
to  me.  I  don't  take  any  interest,  but  an  additional 
chetverik  or  two " 

Yudushka's  offer  makes  Foka  gasp.  For  some  time 
he  says  nothing,  only  shrugs  his  shoulders.  "Won't 
that  be  a  bit  too  much,  sir?"  he  says  at  last,  evidently 
alarmed. 

"If  it's  too  much,  go  to  others.  You  see,  my  friend, 
I  am  not  forcing  you,  I  am  only  making  you  an  offer 
in  a  friendly  way.  I  didn't  send  for  you,  did  I  ?  You 
came  here  yourself.  You  came  to  ask  for  something 
and  that's  my  answer.     Isn't  it  so,  friend?" 

"Yes,  quite  so,  but  don't  you  think  it's  too  much 
interest?" 

"Ah,  ah,  ah!  And  I  thought  you  were  a  just,  re- 
spectable peasant.  Well,  you  will  say  to  me,  what  am 
I  going  to  live  on?  How  will  I  meet  my  expenses? 
Do  you  know  what  expenses  I  have?     My  dear  man. 


Зб6  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

there  is  no  end  to  them.  I've  got  to  pay  here,  and 
meet  my  obHgations  there,  and  produce  cash  in  a 
third  place.  I've  got  to  satisfy  every  one.  All  are 
after  Porfiry  Vladimirych,  all  ask  something  of  him, 
and  I've  got  to  get  along  with  them  as  best  I  can.  And 
then  again,  if  I  sold  the  corn  to  the  dealer,  I  should 
get  money  at  once.  And  money,  my  friend,  is  a  sa- 
cred thing.  With  money  I  can  buy  securities,  put 
them  in  a  safe  place,  and  draw  interest.  No  worry, 
you  know,  of  any  kind,  no  trouble  at  all.  Just  clip 
the  coupon  and  get  your  money.  But  with  the  corn 
you've  got  to  go  carefully  about  it,  and  look  after  it, 
and  all  that.  A  lot  of  it  will  dry  up,  and  be  wasted, 
and  the  mice  will  eat  it  up.  No,  brother,  money  is  the 
best  thing — nothing  like  it !  It  would  be  high  time  for 
me  to  become  sensible  and  turn  everything  into  money 
and  leave  you  folks." 

'*Oh,  Porfiry  Vladimirych,  stay  with  us." 

''Well,  my  dear  man,  I  should  like  to,  but  I  can't 
stand  it  any  longer.  If  I  had  the  strength  of  my  youth, 
of  course  I  would  stay  with  you  and  keep  at  It.  But 
no,  it's  time  to  rest.  I  will  go  to  the  Trinity  Monas- 
tery, I  will  find  shelter  under  the  wing  of  the  saints, 
and  not  a  soul  will  hear  from  me.  And  how  good 
I'll  feel!  All  will  be  peaceful  and  quiet  and  honest; 
no  noise,  no  quarrels — like  in  Heaven." 

In  a  word,  in  spite  of  all  of  Foka's  protestations, 
Porfiry  Vladimirych  arranges  the  bargain  to  suit  him- 
self. But  that  is  not  enough.  At  the  very  moment 
that  Foka  consents  to  the  termj  of  the  loan,  a  thought 
flashes  through  Yudushka's  mind.  A  certain  She- 
lepikha  meadow  appears  on  the  scene.  It  doesn't 
amount  to  much,  hardly  a  desyatin  to  mow. 

"You  see,  I  am  doing  you  a  favor,  so  you  do  me 


THE  DESERTED  MANOR-HOUSE      367 

one  in  turn,"  says  Porfiry  Vladimirych.  "This  is  not 
interest,  but  just  a  favor.  God  does  favors  to  us 
all,  and  we've  got  to  do  likewise  to  one  another.  You 
will  mow  this  desyatin  in  no  time,  and  I'll  be  much 
obliged  to  you.  You  see,  brother,  I  am  a  plain  man. 
You'll  do  me  a  ruble's  worth  of  service,  and  I " 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  rises,  faces  the  church,  and 
makes  the  sign  of  the  cross  to  show  that  the  transaction 
is  at  an  end.  Foka  also  rises  and  makes  the  sign  of 
the  cross. 

Foka  has  disappeared.  Porfiry  Vladimirych  pro- 
duces a  sheet  of  paper,  arms  himself  with  the  count- 
ing-board, and  the  beads  begin  jumping  fast  under  his 
skilful  fingers.  Little  by  little  an  orgy  of  numbers 
commences.  The  whole  world  becomes  ^mvrSppeiL 
in  mist.  With  feverish  haste  Yudushka  passes  from 
the  paper  to  the  counting-board  and  from  the  counting- 
board  to  the  paper.  The  rows  of  figures  keep  grow- 
ing larger  and  larger. 


BOOK  VII 
THE  SETTLEMENT 


CHAPTER  I 

It  is  the  middle  of  December.  The  country 
stretches  still  and  benumbed,  covered  with  a  mantle  of 
snow  as  far  as  the  eye_can  геасЬ.^^УгЬе  horses,  though 
pulling^ttipty  carts,  wade  with  difficulty  through  the 
snow-drifts  that  the  wind  has  driven  during  the  night. 
There  is  not  the  trace  of  a  path  to  the  Golovliovo  es- 
tate. 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  had  grown  so  unaccustomed  to 
visits  that  in  the  beginning  of  autumn  he  barred  the 
front  entrance  to  the  house  and  the  main  gateways 
leading  to  it,  leaving  only  the  servants'  entrance  and 
the  side  gates  for  the  domestics  to  communicate  with 
the  outer  world. 

One  morning  as  the  clock  was  striking  eleven,  Yu- 
dushka  in  his  dressing-gown  was  standing  at  the  win- 
dow staring  aimlessly  before  him.  Since  early  morn- 
ing he  had  been  walking  to  and  fro  in  the  room,  deep 
in  thought  about  a  certain  momentous  matter,  and 
ceaselessly  counting  imaginary  profits.  Finally,  he 
became  mixed  in  the  ciphering  and  grew  tired.  Both 
the  magnificent  orchard  in  front  of  the  manor  and 
the  village  behind  it  were  lost  to  view  in  the  snow. 
After  yesterday's  blizzard  the  air  was  frosty,  and  the 
snow  shimmered  and  sparkled  in  the  sun,  so  that  Por- 
firy Vladimirych  had  to  blink.  The  court  was  silent 
and  deserted.     There  was  not   the  least  movement, 

371 


Ъ72  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

either  in  the  servants'  quarters  or  near  the  cattle  yard. 
Even  the  village  itself  was  so  silent  that  it  seemed  as 
if  death  had  suddenly  stolen  upon  the  people.  The 
only  thing  that  attracted  Yudushka's  attention  was  a 
curl  of  thin  smoke  floating  upward  from  the  priest's 
house. 

"Eleven  o'clock,  and  the  parson's  wife  has  not  yet 
finished  cooking,"  he  thinks.  "Those  black  coats  are 
always  gorging." 

With  this  as  a  point  of  departure,  his  mind  wandered 
on.  Was  it  a  weekday  or  a  holiday,  a  fast  day  or 
not,  and  what  can  the  parson's  wife  be  cooking?  But 
suddenly  his  attention  was  diverted.  On  the  hill  at 
the  very  beginning  of  the  road  from  the  village  of 
Pogorelka  a  black  dotappeared,  approached  gradually 
and  grew  larger  and  larger.  Porfiry  Vladimirych 
looked  intently.  "Who  could  be  coming,  a  peasant  or 
somebody  else  ?  Who  could  it  be  but  a  peasant  ?  Yes, 
a  peasant!  What  was  he  coming  for?  If  for  wood, 
why,  then,  the  Naglovka  forest  was  on  the  other  side 
of  the  village.  The  knave  must  be  intending  to  steal 
some  wood.  If  he  was  making  for  the  mill,  why, 
then,  he  ought  to  have  turned  to  the  right.  Perhaps 
he  was  coming  to  fetch  the  priest.  Someone  dy- 
ing, or,  perhaps,  already  dead?  Or  maybe  a  child 
had  been  born?  Who  could  it  be?  In  autumn 
Nenila  walked  about  pregnant,  but  it  was  too  early 
for  her.  If  it  should  be  a  boy,  he  would  get 
into  the  census.  What  was  the  population  of  Nag- 
lovka at  the  last  census?     But  if  a  girl,  she  would  not 

get  into  the  census,  and Still,  it  is  impossible  to 

get  along  without  the  female  sex.     Fie!" 

Yudushka  spat  and  looked  at  the  ikon  in  the  comer, 
as  if  seeking  its  protection  from  the  Evil  One. 


THE  SETTLEMENT  373 

It  IS  quite  possible  that  he  would  have  continued 
wandering  in  thought  had  the  black  speck  been  lost 
to  view,  but  it  kept  on  growing  and  at  last  turned 
toward  the  marsh  road  leading  to  the  church.  Then 
Yudushka  saw  quite  clearly  that  it  was  a  small  wagon 
pulled  by  two  horses,  one  behind  the  other.  Next  it 
went  up  the  hill,  and  drove  past  the  church.  "Per- 
haps it  is  the  bishop,"  passed  through  his  mind. 
"That's  why  they  have  not  yet  finished  cooking  at 
the  parson's  house."  Then  the  vehicle  turned  to  the 
right  and  made  straight  for  the  manor-house.  Por- 
firy  Vladimirych  instinctively  drew  his  dressing-gown 
together  and  stepped  away  from  the  window,  as  if 
afraid  of  being  seen  by  the  traveller. 

He  had  guessed  correctly.  The  wagon  drove  up 
to  the  house  and  stopped  at  the  side  gate.  A 
young  woman  jumped  out  of  it  quickly.  She  was 
dressed  out  of  season  in  a  large  cotton-lined  great- 
coat trimmed  with  larrib's  fur,  more  for  show  than 
for  warmth.  She  was  apparently  frozen.  No  one 
appearing  to  receive  her,  the  stranger  hopped  over  to 
the  maids'  entrance.  In  a  few  seconds  the  outer  door 
in  the  women's  quarters  banged  shut,  then  another 
door,  and  another,  until  all  the  rooms  adjacent  to  the 
maids'  entrance  were  filled  with  a  noise  of  hurried 
footsteps  and  banging  doors. 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  stood  at  his  study  door  listen- 
ing intently.  It  was  so  long  since  he  had  seen  any 
strangers,  and  altogether  he  had  become  so  unaccus- 
tomed to  the  company  of  human  beings,  that  he  was 
somewhat  bewildered.  Nearly  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
passed,  the  running  and  the  banging  of  the  doors 
continued,  and  yet  he  was  not  told  who  had  come.  It 
was  clear  that  the  guest  was  a  relative,  who  did  not 


374  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

doubt  her  right  to  the  host's  hospitality.  But  what 
relatives  had  he?  He  tried  to  recall  them,  but  his 
memory  was  dull.  He  had  had  two  sons,  Volodka 
and  Petka;  he  had  had  a  mother,  Arina  Petrovna — 
long,  long  ago !  Last  autumn  Nadka  Galkina,  daugh- 
ter of  his  late  aunt  Varvara  Mikhailovna,  had  taken 
up  her  residence  at  Goryushkino.  Could  it  be  she? 
Why,  no.  She  had  already  tried  to  make  her  way 
into  the  Golovliovo  temple,  but  to  no  avail. 

"She  will  not  dare  to,  she  will  not  dare  to !"  reiter- 
ated Yudushka,  burning  with  indignation  at  the  very 
thought  of  her  intrusion.     "But  who  else  can  it  be?" 

While  he  was  busy  guessing,  Yevpraksia  approached 
the  door  cautiously  and  announced : 

"The  young  lady  of  Pogorelka,  Anna  Semionovna, 
has  arrived." 

It  was  indeed  Anninka,  but  changed  beyond  recog- 
nition. She  was  no  longer  the  beautiful,  lively,  buoy- 
ant girl  with  rosy  cheeks,  full  gray  eyes,  high  breast 
and  heavy,  ash-colored  jtressesrnassed~.jQw  on  her 
head,  who  had  come  to  Golovliovo  shortly  after  the 
death  of  Arina  Petrovna,  but  a  weak,  wasted  creature 
with  a  sunken  chest,  hollow  cheeks,  я  hertir  face  and 
languid  movements — a  bent  creature,  almost  hunch- 
backed. Even  her  splendid  braids  looked  miserable, 
and  her  eyes,  blazing  feverishly,  seemed  larger  than 
ever  in  her  emaciated  face.  Her  eyes  alone  retained 
something  of  their  former  beauty.  Yevpraksia  stared 
long  at  her  as  at  a  stranger,  then  finally  recognized 
her. 

"You  ?"  she  cried  out,  clapping  her  hands. 

"I.     Well?" 

Anninka  laughed  quietly,  as  if  to  add,  "Yes,  life 
has  played  me  a  dirty  trick." 


THE  SETTLEMENT  375 

"Is  uncle  well?" 

"Uncle?  Nothing  is  the  matter  with  him.  He  is 
alive,  there  is  no  doubt  about  that,  but  we  hardly 
ever  see  him." 

"What's  the  matter  with  him?" 

"Just  so — it's  all  because  of  lonesomeness." 

"Don't  tell  me  he  has  stopped  haranguing?" 

"He  is  real  quiet  now,  miss.  He  used  to  talk  and 
talk,  but  suddenly  he  became  silent.  Occasionally  we 
hear  him  in  his  study  talking  to  himself  and  sometimes 
even  laughing,  but  as  soon  as  he  comes  out  of  the 
room  he  is  quiet.  People  say  his  late  brother,  Stepan 
Vladimirych,  had  the  same  trouble.  At  first  he  was 
gay,  then  suddenly  he  became  quiet.  And  you, 
madam,  are  you  well  ?" 

Anninka  only  waved  her  hand  in  reply. 

"And  is  your  sister  well?" 

"She  has  been  lying  in  her  grave  at  the  wayside  at 
Krechetovo  a  month." 

"Lord  be  merciful!    At  the  wayside!" 

"Of  course,  that's  how  they  bury  all  suicides." 

"Goodness!  A  lady — and  to  take  her  own  life! 
How  is  that?" 

"Yes,  at  first  she  was  a  'lady,'  and  then  she  took 
poison,  that's  all.  And  I,  I  am  a  coward,  I  want  to 
live,  and  here  I  have  come  to  you.  Not  for  long,  oh, 
don't  be  afraid.    I  shall  die  soon,  too." 

Yevpraksia  stared  at  her,  as  if  she  did  not  under- 
stand. 

"Why  are  you  looking  at  me?  Am  I  such  a  fright? 
Well,  never  mind  my  looks.  However,  I'll  tell  you 
later — later.  Now  pay  the  coachman  and  announce 
me  to  uncle." 


37б  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

She  produced  an  old  pocketbook  and  took  out  two 
yellow  bills. 

"And  here  is  all  my  property,"  she  added,  pointing 
to  a  small  trunk.  "Here's  everything,  both  my  inheri- 
tance and  my  own  acquisitions.  I  am  cold,  Yev- 
praksia,  very  cold.  I  am  quite  sick,  there's  not  a  bone 
in  my  body  that  doesn't  ache,  and  here  as  if  to  spite 
me,  it  is  so  cold.  As  I  was  riding,  I  thought  of  only 
one  thing,  to  get  to  Golovliovo,  and  die  there,  at  least 
in  warmth.  I'd  like  to  have  some  vodka.  Have  you 
any?" 

"You  had  better  have  some  tea,  madam.  The 
samovar  will  soon  be  ready." 

"No,  I  shall  have  tea  later.  Now  I'd  like  to  have 
some  vodka.  However,  don't  tell  uncle  about  the 
vodka  yet.     It  will  all  come  out  later." 

While  they  set  the  table  for  tea  in  the  dining-room 
Porfiry  Vladimirych  appeared.  Now  Anninka  in  her 
turn  was  completely  surprised  at  her  uncle's  emacia- 
tion and  wild^^faded  looks.  Porfiry  received  Anninka 
in  a  strange  manner,  ne?-b:Mty7*bttt--as--if  altogether 
indifferent.  He  spoke  little,  as  if  under  compulsion,' 
like  ajT~actor  trying  to  recall  sentences  of  parts  acted 
in  days  gone  by,  and  was  absent-minded,  as  though 
bis  mind  were  absorbed  in  some  grave,  urgent  busi- 
ness from  which  he  had  been  torn  away  to  attend  to 
trifles. 

"So  you  have  arrived?"  he  said.  "What  will  you 
have,  tea,  coffee?     Order  the  servants  to  fetch  it." 

In  former  days,  at  family  meetings,  Yudushka  al- 
ways played  the  sentimental  part.  This  time  it  was 
Anninka  who  was  filled  with  emotions,  genuine  emo- 
tions.   The  claw  of^sorrew-mtisl  have  sunk  deep  into 


THE  SETTLEMENT  377 

her  being,  for  she  threw  herself  on  Porfiry  Vladi- 
mirych's  breast  and  embraced  him  ardently. 

''Uncle,  I  have  come  to  you!"  she  cried,  and  burst 
into  tears. 

"Well,  you  are  welcome.  I  have  enough  rooms. 
Live  here." 

'T  am  sick,  uncle,  very,  very  sick." 

"If  you  are  sick,  you  must  pray  to  God!  When- 
ever I  am  not  well,  I  always  heal  myself  through 
prayer." 

"I  have  come  to  you,  uncle,  to  die." 

Porfiry  Vladimirych  looked  at  her  with  question- 
ing eyes,  and  an  almost  imperceptible  smile  stole  over 
his  lips. 

"So  that  is  where  your  acting  has  brought  you?" 

"Yes,  that  is  where  my  acting  has  brought  me. 
Lubinka  is  dead  and  I — I  am  alive." 

At  the  news  of  Lubinka' s  death  Yudushka  piously 
crossed  himself  and  whispered  a  prayer.  Anninka 
seated  herself  at  table,  her  chin  in  her  hands,  looking 
toward  the  church  and  continuing  to  cry  bitterly. 

"See  here,  as  for  weeping  and  being  in  despair,  it 
is  surely  a  sin,"  remarked  Porfiry  Vladimirych  sen- 
tentiously.  "And  do  you  know  what  a  Christian 
must  do  on  such  an  occasion?  Not  cry,  but  submit 
and  hope — that's  how  a  Christian  has  to  act." 

But  Anninka  threw  herself  back  on  the  chair  and 
repeated,  her  arms  drooping  helplessely: 

"Ah,  I  do  not  know,  I  do  not  know,  I  do  not  know !" 

"If  you  are  crying  your  eyes  out  on  account  of 
your  sister,"  Yudushka  continued  to  sermonize,  "that 
is  a  sin,  too.  For  although  it  is  praiseworthy  to  love 
one's  sisters  and  brothers,  yet,  if  it  be  the  will  of  God 
to  take  one  or  several  of  them  to  Himself " 


378  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"Oh,  no,  no !  Uncle,  are  you  kind  ?  Are  you  kind  ? 
Tell  me!" 

Anninka  threw  herself  on  him  again  and  embraced 
him. 

''Well,  I  am  kind,  kind.  Tell  me,  do  you  wish  any- 
thing? Will  you  have  a  bite,  or  tea,  or  coffee?  Ask 
for  what  you  want.     Order  it." 

Anninka  suddenly  remembered  how  during  her  first 
visit  her  uncle  used  to  ask  her,  "Will  you  have  beef, 
pork,  potatoes.?"  And  she  realized  that  she  would 
find  no  other  consolation. 

"Thank  you,  uncle,"  she  said,  seating  herself  at  the 
table  again.  "I  do  not  want  anything  in  particular. 
I  am  sure  I  shall  be  contented  with  anything  you  offer 
me.'' 

"If  so,  well  and  good.     Will  you  go  to  Pogorelka?" 

"No,  uncle,  for  the  time  being  I  shall  stay  with 
you.     You  have  nothing  against  it,  have  you?" 

"Christ  be  with  you,  of  course  I  don't  object.  I 
asked  about  Pogorelka  only  because  in  case  you  do 
wish  to  go  there,  it  would  be  necessary  to  arrange 
for  a  wagon  and  horses." 

"No,  later,  later." 

"Very  well,  then.  You  will  go  there  later  on. 
Meanwhile  you  can  stay  with  us.  You  will  help 
about  the  house,  for  I'm  all  alone,  you  see.  This 
queen,"  said  Yudushka,  almost  in  hatred,  pointing  to 
Yevpraksia  pouring  the  tea,  "is  all  the  time  running 
about  in  the  servants'  quarters,  so  that  sometimes  you 
can  never  get  any  service,  not  a  soul  in  the  whole 
house.  Well,  good-by  for  the  present.  I  shall  go 
to  my  room.  I  shall  pray,  do  some  work  and  pray 
again.    So,  my  friend.    Is  it  long  since  Lubinka  died  ?" 

"About  a  month,  uncle." 


THE  SETTLEMENT  379 

"Then  tomorrow  we  shall  go  to  church  early  and 
order  a  mass  to  be  read  for  God's  recently  deceased 
servant  Lubinka.  So  good-by  for  the  present.  Have 
some  tea,  and  if  you  want  a  bit  of  luncheon,  have  the 
servant  bring  it  to  you.  At  dinner  we  shall  meet  again, 
have  a  talk,  a  chat.  And  if  anything  has  to  be  done, 
we  shall  attend  to  it,  if  not — not." 

Such  Avas  the  first  family  meeting.  When  it  was 
over,  Anninka  entered  upon  her  new  life  in  that  dis- 
gusting Golovliovo,  where  she  was  stranded  for  the 
second  time  in  her  short  life. 


CHAPTER  II 

Anninka  had  gone  downhill  very  fast.  It  was 
true  that  her  first  visit  to  Golovliovo  had  aroused 
the  consciousness  of  being  a  ^4ady/'  of  having  her 
own  nest  and  her  own  graves,  of  not  being  confined  in 
her  life  to  the  squalor  and  uproar  of  hotels  and  inns, 
and  of  having  a  shelter  where  she  would  be  safe  from 
vile  breaths  infected  with  the  odor  of  wine  and  the 
stable,  from  hoarse  voices,  bloodshot  eyes,  indecent 
gestures.  But  alas!  No  sooner  did  Golovliovo  dis- 
appear from  sight  than  this  purifying  consciousness 
vanished  from  her  mind. 

Anninka  had  gone  from  Golovliovo  straight  to  Mos- 
cow, and  solicited  a  position  on  the  government  stage 
both  for  herself  and  her  sister.  With  this  in  view 
she  turned  for  aid  to  maman,  that  is,  the  directress  of 
the  boarding-school  where  she  had  been  educated,  and 
to  several  of  her  classmates.  Maman  was  at  first 
quite  kind  to  her,  but  as  soon  as  she  discovered  that 
her  former  pupil  had  acted  on  the  provincial  stage, 
her  pleasant  manner  changed  to  one  of  haughtiness 
and  sternness.  As  for  Anninka's  classmates,  who 
were  mostly  married  women,  they  eyed  her  with  an 
impertinent  astonishment  that  quite  frightened  her. 
Only  one  of  them,  better-natured  than  the  rest,  asked 
her,  evidently  wishing  to  show  sympathy: 

"Tell  me,  darling,  is  it  true  that  when  you  actresses 
dress  for  the  stage,  officers  lace  your  corsets  ?" 

380 


THE  SETTLEMENT  381 

In  a  word,  her  attempts  to  gain  a  foothold  in  Mos- 
cow remained  unsuccessful.  The  truth  of  the  matter 
was,  she  did  not  possess  the  necessary  qualifications 
for  theatrical  success  in  the  capital.  She  and  her 
sister  Lubinka  belonged  to  that  class  of  lively,  but 
not  very  talented  actresses  who  play  one  part  all  their 
lives.  Anninka  had  made  a  hit  in  Pericola,  Lubinka 
in  Pansies  and  Old-time  Colonels,  and  whatever  new 
roles  they  studied  strangely  resembled  their  success- 
ful parts,  or,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  were  a  com- 
plete failure.  Anninka  often  had  to  play  Fair  Helen 
also.  She  would  wear  a  flaming  red  wig  over  her 
ash-colored  hair,  and  cut  her  tunic  down  to  her  waist 
line,  but  she  was  mediocre  and  dull,  not  even  cynical. 
From  Fair  Helen  she  passed  to  the  Duchess  of  HeroU 
stein.  In  this  her  colorless  acting  was  coupled  with  a 
completely  preposterous  mise  en  scene,  and  the  out- 
come was  altogether  miserable.  At  last  she  under- 
took to  play  the  role  of  Clairette  in  The  White  Slave. 
But  she  overdid  her  part  to  such  an  extent  that  even 
the  none  too  refined  provincial  public  was  shocked  by 
her  behavior  on  the  stage,  which  she  turned  into  a 
mire  of  corruption.  Anninka  gained  the  reputation 
of  being  a  clever  actress  with  a  fairly  good  voice,  and 
since  she  was  pretty,  she  could  get  an  audience  in  the 
provinces.  But  that  wa^  all.  Lacking  individuality, 
she  could  not  attain  permanent  success.  Even 
among  the  provincial  public  she  was  popular  mainly 
Avith  army  officers,  whose  chief  ambition  was  to  obtain 
access  behind  the  scenes.  She  could  have  got  an  en- 
gagement in  the  capital  only  if  she  had  been  forced 
upon  some  manager  by  a  powerful  patron,  and  even 
then  the  public  would  have  given  her  the  unenviable 
nickname  of  "a  tavern  singer." 


382  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

Thus  the  two  girls  had  to  go  back  to  the  provinces. 
In  Moscow  Anninka  received  a  letter  from  Lubinka, 
saying  that  their  company  had  removed  from  Kreche- 
tov  to  the  city  of  Samovarnov,  which  made  Lubinka 
quite  glad,  because  there  she  had  become  friendly 
Avith  a  certain  zemstvo  leader,  who  was  so  infatuated 
that  he  was  almost,  in  his  own  words,  "ready  to  steal 
the  zemstvo  funds,  if  that  were  necessary  to  gratify 
all  her  desires/* 

In  fact,  on  her  arrival  in  Samovarnov,  Anninka 
found  her  sister  quite  luxuriously  situated  and  plan- 
ning to  give  up  the  stage.  Lubinka' s  admirer,  the 
zemstvo  official  Gavrilo  Stepanych  Lyulkin,  was  a  re- 
tired captain  of  the  Hussars,  recently  a  bet  homme, 
but  now  somewhat  corpulent.  His  appearance  and 
u  manners  and  views  taken  separately  were  conspicu- 
'  I  ously  noble,  but  taken  together  they  gave  one  the 
I  strong  impression  that  the  man  was  altogether  free 
from  scruples.  Lubinka  received  Anninka  with  open 
arms  and  told  her  a  room  had  been  prepared  for  her 
at  the  lodgings. 

Anninka,  still  under  the  influence  of  her  trip  to 
Golovliovo,  bridled  up  at  the  suggestion.  The  sisters 
exchanged  tart  words,  and  soon  afterwards  they  sep- 
arated. Involuntarily  Anninka  recalled  the  words  of 
the  Volpino  parson,  who  had  told  her  it  was  hard  to 
safeguard  a  maiden's  ''honor"  in  the  acting  profes- 
sion. 

Anninka  went  to  live  at  a  hotel  and  broke  off  all 
relations  with  her  sister.  Easter  passed.  The  next 
week  the  theatres  opened,  and  Anninka  found  out  that 
her  sister's  place  was  already  filled  by  Nalimova,  a 
girl  from  Kazan,  a  mediocre  actress,  but  utterly  un- 
constrained in  the  movements  of  her  body.     As  usual, 


THE  SETTLEMENT  383 

Anninka  played  Pericola  and  enchanted  the  Samovar- 
nov  theatregoers.  On  her  return  to  the  hotel,  she 
found  an  envelope  in  her  room  containing  a  hundred 
ruble  bill  and  a  laconic  note  which  read :  ''Should 
anything  happen,  you  get  as  much.  Merchant  Kuki- 
shev,  dealer  in  fancy  goods."  Anninka  was  enraged 
and  went  to  complain  to  the  hotel-keeper.  He  told 
her  Kukishev  had  this  peculiar  habit  of  greeting  the 
newly  arrived  actresses,  and  otherwise  was  a  harm- 
less man  and  it  did  not  pay  to  take  offence.  Anninka 
sealed  up  the  letter  and  the  money  in  an  envelope, 
sent  it  back  the  very  next  day,  and  regained  her  com- 
posure. 

But  Kukishev  was  more  persistent  than  the  hotel- 
keeper  had  reported  him  to  be.  He  was  among  Lyul- 
kin's  friends  and  was  on  good  terms  with  Lubinka. 
He  was  quite  well-to-do  and,  besides,  as  a  member  of 
the  city  administration  was  in  a  most  convenient  po- 
sition with  regard  to  the  city  treasury.  And  like 
Lyulkin,  boldness  was  not  his  least  virtue.  Accord- 
ing to  the  taste  of  market,  people  he  possessed  a  se- 
ductive appearance,  reminding  one  of  the  beetle,  which, 
as  the  song  has  it,  Masha  found  in  the  fields  instead  of 
berries : 


"A  beetle  black,  and  on  his  crown 

Nice  curly  hair,  with   whiskers   smart, 
His  eyebrows  colored  a  dark-brown, 
The  picture  of  my  own  sweetheart." 


Being  the  happy  possessor  of  such  looks  he  thought 
he  had  the  right  to  be  aggressive,  all  the  more  so  as 
Lubinka  explicitly  promised  him  her  cooperation. 

Lubinka,  apparently,  had  burned  all  her  bridges, 
and  her  reputation  was  by  no  means  a  pleasant  topic 


384  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

in  her  sister's  ears.  Every  night,  it  was  said,  a  mevrf 
band  caroused  in  her  rooms  from  midnight  till  morn- 
ing, Lubinka  presiding  and  appearing  as  a  ''gypsy," 
half  naked  (at  this,  Lyulkin,  addressing  his  intoxi- 
cated friends,  would  cry  out,  "Look,  there's  a 
breast!")  and  with  loosened  hair.  She  would  sing  to 
the  accompaniment  of  a  guitar : 

"How  I  did  love  it  with  my  mash, 
Who  had  the   darlingest  mustache !" 

Anninka  listened  to  the  stories  about  her  sister  and 
became  greatly  worried.  What  surprised  her  most 
was  that  Lubinka  sang  the  ditty  about  the  "mash  who 
had  the  darlingest  mustache"  in  a  gypsy-like  man- 
ner, just  like  the  celebrated  Matryusha  of  Mos- 
cow. Anninka  always  gave  her  sister  due  credit,  and 
had  she  been  told  that  Lubinka  sang  couplets  from 
Old-time  Colonels  with  unsurpassed  excellence,  she 
would  have  considered  it  quite  natural  and  would 
have  readily  believed  it.  The  theatergoers  of  Kursk, 
Tambov  and  Penza  had  not  yet  forgotten  with  what 
inimitable  naivete  Lubinka  sang  the  most  atrocious 
ambiguities  in  her  soft  little  voice.  But  that  Lu- 
binka could  sing  like  a  gypsy — pardon  me!  A  lief 
She,  Anninka,  could  sing  like  that,  no  doubt  of  it.  It 
was  her  genre,  her  business,  and  everyone  in  Kursk 
who  had  seen  her  in  the  play,  Russian  Romances  Per- 
sonified,  would  willingly  testify  to  it. 

Anninka  would  take  the  guitar,  sling  the  striped  sash 
over  her  shoulder,  sit  down  on  a  chair,  cross  her  legs 
and  begin :  "I-ekh !  I-akh !"  It  was  the  very  manner 
of  Matryusha  the  gypsy. 


THE  SETTLEMENT  385 

However  that  may  have  been,  one  thing  was  certain, 
that  Lubinka  was  extravagant.  And  Lyulkin,  for  fear 
of  introducing  a  discordant  note  into  the  drunken  bhss, 
had  already  resorted  to  borrowing  from  the  zemstvo 
treasury.  Not  to  speak  of  the  tremendous  amount 
of  champagne  which  was  both  consumed  and  poured 
out  on  the  floor  in  Lubinka's  quarters,  all  sorts  of 
things  had  to  be  provided  to  feed  her  growing  ca- 
prickmsa^  and  extravagance.  First  it  was  dresses 
from  Mme.  Minangois  of  Moscow,  then  jewelry  from 
Fuld.  Lubinka  was  rather  thrifty  and  did  not  scorn 
valuables.  Her  licentiousness  by  no  means  interfered 
with  her  love  of  gold,  diamonds  and  especially  lottery 
bonds.  At  any  rate,  it  was  a  life  not  of  gaiety,  but  of 
boisterous  debauchery  and  continuous  intoxication. 

There  was  one  thorn  in  the  rose-bush.  It  w^as  nec- 
essary for  Lubinka  to  curry  favor  with  the  chief  of 
police.  Although  a  friend  of  Lyulkin's,  he  sometimes 
liked  to  make  his  power  felt,  and  Lubinka  always 
guessed  when  he  was  dissatisfied  with  her  hospitality, 
for  the  next  day  the  police  warden  would  come  to  ask 
for  her  passport.  And  she  yielded.  In  the  morning 
she  would  treat  the  district  chief  of  police  to  vodka 
and  a  light  repast,  while  in  the  evening  she  would  per- 
sonally prepare  a  "Swedish"  punch  of  which  he  was 
very  fond. 

Kukishev  watched  this  ocean  of  luxury  and  burned 
with  envy.  He  conceived  a  desire  to  lead  a  similar 
life  and  have  just  such  a  mistress.  That  would  put 
an  end  to  the  monotony  of  provincial  life.  One  night 
he  would  spend  with  Lyulkin's  queen,  the  next  night 
with  his  own  queen.  That  was  the  dream  of  his  life, 
the  ambition  of  an  imbecile,  who  is  the  more  obstinate 
in  his  strivings  the   greater  his   stupidity.     Anninka 


386  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

seemed  to  be  the  most  suitable  person  for  the  reaHza- 
tion  of  his  hopes. 

But  Anninka  would  not  surrender.  She  was  still 
new  to  the  stir  of  passion,  although  she  had  had  nu- 
merous suitors  and  had  been  rather  free  in  her  rela- 
tions with  them.  At  one  time  she  even  thought  she 
was  ready  to  fall  in  love  with  the  local  tragedian 
Miloslavsky  X,  who  was  consumed  with  passion  for 
her.  But  Miloslavsky  X  was  so  hare-brained  and  so 
persistently  drunk  that  he  never  told  her  of  his  love, 
only  stared  at  her  and  stolidly  hiccoughed  when  she 
passed  by.  So  the  love  affair  never  ripened.  The 
other  suitors  Anninka  considered  as  something  in  the 
nature  of  indispensaijle  furniture,  to  which  a  pro- 
vincial actress  is  doomed  by  the  very  conditions  of  her 
profession.  She  submitted  to  these  conditions,  and 
took  advantage  of  their  minor  privileges,  such  as  ap- 
plause, bouquets,  drives,  picnics,  etc.,  but  further  than 
this  so  to  speak  external  dissipation,  she  did  not  go. 

She  persisted  in  this  manner  of  conduct.  During 
the  whole  summer  she  had  kept  to  the  path  of  virtue, 
jealously  guarding  her  honor,  as  if  anxious  to  show 
the  Volpino  priest  that  moral  strength  can  be  found 
even  among  actresses.  Once  she  even  decided  to  com- 
plain about  Kukishev  to  the  governor,  who  listened 
to  her  with  kindly  favor  and  commended  her  for  her 
heroism.  But  seeing  that  her  complaint  was  an  in- 
direct attack  on  his  own  person  as  the  governor  of 
the  province,  he  added  that,  having  spent  all  his 
strength  against  the  internal  enemy,  he  strongly 
doubted  whether  he  could  be  of  any  use.  Hearing 
this,  Anninka  blushed  and.  went  away. 

Meanwhile  Kukishev  acted  so  artfully  that  he  suc- 
ceeded in  making  the  public  take  an  interest  in  his  ef- 


THE  SETTLEMENT  387 

forts.  People  suddenly  became  convinced  that  Ku- 
kishev  was  right  and  that  Pogorelskaya  I,  as  she  was 
dubbed  on  the  posters,  only  looked  as  if  butter  would 
not  melt  in  her  mouth.  A  whole  clique  was  formed 
with  the  express  purpose  of  taming  the  refractory 
upstart  The  campaign  was  started  by  several  habi- 
tues of  the  theatre  who  gradually  began  to  hang 
around  her  dressing-room  and  made  their  nest  in  the 
adjoining  room  belonging  to  Miss  Nalimova.  Then, 
without  exhibiting  direct  enmity,  the  audiences  began 
to  receive  Pogorelskaya  I,  when  she  appeared  on  the 
stage,  with  a  disheartening  reserve,  as  if  she  were 
not  the  star  actress,  but  some  insignificant  dumb  per- 
former. At  last  the  clique  insisted  that  the  manager 
take  some  parts  away  from  Anninka  and  give  them 
to  Nalimova.  And  what  was  most  curious,  the  most 
important  part  in  this  underhand  intrigue  was  played 
by  Lubinka,  whose  confidant  was  Nalimova. 

Toward  autumn  Anninka  was  surprised  to  find  that 
she  was  compelled  to  play  the  role  of  Orestes  in  Fair 
Helen^  and  only  Pericola  had  been  left  to  her  of  all 
her  main  parts.  That  was  because  Nalimova  would 
not  dare  to  vie  with  her  in  the  role.  In  addition,  the 
manager  notified  her  that  in  view  of  her  cold  recep- 
tion by  the  audiences,  her  salary  would  be  reduced  to 
seventy-five  rubles  a  month,  with  only  half  the  pro- 
ceeds of  one  benefit  during  the  year. 

Anninka  lost  courage,  because  with  so  small  a  sal- 
ary she  would  have  to  move  from  the  hotel  to  an  inn. 
She  wrote  letters  to  two  or  three  managers  offering 
her  services,  but  invariably  received  the  answer  that 
they  were  actually  flooded  with  applicants  for  the 
Pericola  role,  and  besides,  they  had  learned  of  her 


388  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

shrewish  obstinacy  from  reliable  sources,  and  so  could 
not  foresee  any  hopes  of  her  success. 

Anninka  was  now  living  on  her  last  savings.  An- 
other week  and  she  would  have  to  move  to  the  inn 
and  live  with  Khoroshavina,  who  was  playing  Par- 
thenis  and  was  favored  with  the  attention  of  a  con- 
stable. She  began  to  yield  to  despair,  especially  since 
a  mysterious  hand  put  a  note  into  her  room  every  day 
containing  the  same  words,  'Tericola,  submit.  Your 
Kukishev."  And  at  the  critical  moment  Lubinka 
most  unexpectedly  rushed  in. 

'Tell  me,  please,  for  what  prince  are  you  saving 
your  treasure?"  she  asked  curtly. 

Anninka  was  taken  aback.  First  of  all  she  was 
amazed  to  find  that  both  the  Volpino  priest  and  Lu- 
binka employed  the  same  word  ''treasure"  for  maiden- 
ly honor.  Only  the  priest  had  regarded  it  as  the 
"foundation  of  life,"  while  Lubinka  looked  upon  it 
as  a  mere  trifle  over  which  the  "rascally  males"  go  mad. 

Then  she  involuntarily  questioned  herself,  What  is 
this  "treasure,"  anyhow?  Is  it  really  a  treasure  and 
is  it  really  worth  hoarding?  Alas,  she  could  find  no 
satisfactory  answer  to  her  questions.  On  one  hand, 
it  is  rather  shameful  to  remain  without  honor,  and  on 

the  other Ah,  the  devil  take  it!     And  could  it 

be  that  the  whole  purpose,  the  whole  merit  of  her  exis- 
tence consisted  in  struggling  every  moment  of  her  life 
to  maintain  this  treasure? 

"In  only  six  months  I  have  succeeded  in  getting 
thirty  bonds,"  Lubinka  continued,  "and  lots  of  things. 
Look  what  a  dress  I  have  on!" 

Lubinka  turned  about,  pulled  at  the  front,  then  at 
the  sides,  letting  herself  be  examined.     The  dress  was 


THE  SETTLEMENT  389 

really  an  expensive  one  and  unusually  well  made.     It 
came  straight  from  Minangois  in  Moscow. 

"Kukishev  is  a  kind  sort,"  Lubinka  resumed.  ''He 
will  dress  you  up  like  a  doll,  and  he  will  give  you 
money.  You'll  be  able  to  send  the  theatre  to  the 
devil.     You  have  had  enough  of  it." 

"Never!"  cried  Anninka  heatedly.  She  had  not  as 
yet  forgotten  the  phrase,  ''sacred  art." 

"You  may  remain  if  you  wish  to.  You  will  get 
your  former  salary  again  and  outstrip  Nalimova." 

Anninka  was  silent. 

"Well,  good-by.  They  are  waiting  for  me  down- 
stairs.    Kukishev  is  there,  too.     Will  you  come?" 

But  Anninka  maintained  her  silence. 

"Well,  think  it  over,  if  there  is  anything  to  think 
about.  And  when  you  have  done  thinking,  come  to 
see  me.     Good-by." 

On  the  seventeenth  of  September,  Lubinka's  birth- 
day, the  posters  of  the  Samovarnov  theatre  announced 
a  gala  performance.  Anninka  appeared  as  Fair  Helen 
again,  and  the  same  evening  the  part  of  Orestes  was 
performed  by  Pogorelskaya  П,  Lubinka.  To  com- 
plete the  triumph  of  the  sisters,  Nalimova  was  given 
the  part  of  Cleon,  the  blacksmith.  She  appeared 
on  the  stage  dressed  in  tights  and  a  short  coat, 
her  face  touched  with  soot,  and  a  sheet  of  iron 
in  her  hands.  The  audience  was  elated.  Hardly 
did  Anninka  appear  on  the  stage  when  the  audience 
raised  such  a  clamor  that,  already  unaccustomed  to 
ovations,  she  nearly  broke  into  tears.  And  when, 
in  the  third  act,  in  the  scene  where  she  is  awak- 
ened at  night,  she  stood  up  on  the  sofa  almost  naked, 
the  house  was  one  groaning  mass  of  humanity. 
One  man  in  the  audience  was  so  thoroughly  worked 


390  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

up  that  he  shouted  to  Menelaus,  who  was  en- 
tering the  stage,  "Get  out,  damn  you!"  Anninka 
understood  that  the  public  had  pardoned  her.  As  for 
Kukishev,  he  was  in  full  dress,  white  tie  and  white 
gloves.  In  the  entr'actes  he  generously  treated  friends 
and  strangers  alike  to  champagne  and  spoke  of  his 
triumph  with  dignity.  At  last  the  manager  of  the 
theatre,  brimming  over  with  jubilation,  appeared  in 
Anninka's  room  and,  kneeling  before  her,  said,  "Now, 
madam,  you  are  a  good  girl  and  you  will  get  your 
previous  salary  with  the  corresponding  number  of 
benefits." 

Everybody  praised  her  and  congratulated  her  and 
protested  their  sympathy,  so  that  she,  who  at  first 
was  timid,  restless,  and  haunted  with  a  feeling  of  op- 
pressive melancholy,  grew  suddenly  convinced  that 
she  had  fulfilled  her  mission. 

After  the  theatre  the  whole  company  went  to  Lu- 
binka's  birthday  celebration,  and  there  the  congratu- 
lations were  reiterated.  So  large  a  crowd  gathered  in 
Lubinka's  quarters  that  the  tobacco  smoke  made  it 
hard  to  breathe.  They  sat  down  to  supper,  and  cham.- 
pagne  began  to  flow  freely.  Kukishev  kept  close  to 
Anninka.  This  made  her  somewhat  shy,  but  she  was 
no  longer  oppressed  by  his  attentions.  It  seemed 
rather  funny,  but  also  flattering,  that  she  had  so  easily 
gotten  hold  of  this  big,  powerful  man,  who  could  bend 
and  straighten  out  a  horseshoe  without  effort,  and 
whom  she  could  order  about  and  do  with  as  she  wished. 
The  supper  was  crowned  by  that  drunken,  disorderly 
gaiety  in  which  neither  the  head  nor  the  heart  takes 
a  part,  and  which  results  only  in  headaches  and  nausea. 
The  tragedian  Miloslavsky  X  was  the  only  one  who 
looked   gloomy  and   declined  champagne,   preferring 


THE  SETTLEMENT  391 

plain  vodka,  which  he  gulped  down  glass  after  glass. 
As  to  Anninka,  she  abstained  from  drink  for  some 
time,  but  Kukishev  was  insistent.  He  went  down  on 
his  knees  and  implored  her : 

"Anna  Semyonovna,  it  is  your  turn.  I  beseech  you. 
For  your  happiness,  for  friendship  and  love.  Do  us 
a  favor." 

She  was  annoyed  by  his  foolish  figure  and  foolish 
talk,  yet  she  could  not  refuse,  and  before  she  had  time 
to  collect  her  thoughts,  she  was  already  dizzy.  Lu- 
binka,  for  her  part,  was  so  magnanimous  that  she  her- 
self asked  her  sister  to  sing,  "How  I  did  love  it 
with  my  mash."  Anninka  performed  it  so  well 
that  everybody  exclaimed,  "Ah,  that  was  just  like 
Matryusha  the  gypsy."  Then  Lubinka  sang  an  ob- 
scene song  of  a  different  kind,  and  at  once  convinced 
everybody  that  that  kind  of  singing  was  her  real  genre, 
in  which  she  had  no  rivals,  just  as  Anninka  had  none 
in  the  gypsy  songs.  In  conclusion,  Miloslavsky  X 
and  Nalimova  presented  a  "masquerade  scene"  in 
which  the  tragedian  recited  parts  from  Ugolino  (a 
tragedy  in  five  acts,  by  Polevoy),  and  Nalimova  fol- 
lowed with  a  scene  from  an  unpublished  tragedy  of 
Barkov.  The  result  was  so  unexpected  that  Nali- 
mova nearly  eclipsed  the  two  sisters  and  almost  be- 
came the  heroine  of  the  evening. 

It  was  already  dawn  when  Kukishev,  leaving  the 
charming  hostess,  helped  Anninka  into  her  carriage. 
Pious  townspeople  were  coming  from  matins.  At  the 
sight  of  Anninka,  elaborately  attired  and  somewhat 
unsteady  on  her  feet,  they  muttered  darkly,  "People 
are  coming  out  of  church,  and  they  are  gulping  w^ine. 
A  curse  on  them!" 

On  leaving  her  sister's,  Anninka  went  not  to  the  ho- 


392  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

tel  but  to  her  own  quarters,  small  but  snug  and  nicely 
furnished.     She  was  followed  by  Kukishev. 

The  whole  winter  passed  in  an  indescribable  hurly- 
burly.  Anninka  was  completely  in  the  swing,  and  if 
she  ever  reminded  herself  of  her  "treasure,"  it  was 
only  in  order  to  laugh  it  off  with  **How  foolish  I 
was!"  Kukishev,  very  proud  of  the  fact  that  his 
"idea"  of  securing  a  mistress  like  Lubinka  had  mate- 
rialized, made  ducks  and  drakes  of  his  money.  Insti- 
gated by  emulation,  he  ordered  two  gowns  to  Lyul- 
kin's  one,  and  two  dozen  bottles  of  champagne  to  his 
one  dozen.  Lubinka  herself  began  to  envy  her  sister, 
because  she  succeeded  in  laying  by  forty  lottery  bonds 
during  the  winter  in  addition  to  a  considerable  amount 
of  jewelry.  However,  they  became  friendly  again  and 
decided  to  pool  their  hoardings. 

Anninka  always  hoped  for  something,  and  during 
an  intimate  talk  with  her  sister,  said: 

"When  all  this  will  be  over,  we  will  go  back  to 
Pogorelka.  We  will  have  money  and  establish  a  home 
for  ourselves." 

"And  you  think  this  will  ever  end?  Fool!"  Lu- 
binka retorted  cynically. 

To  Anninka's  misfortune,  Kukishev  soon  came  upon 
a  new  "idea,"  which  he  began  to  pursue  with  his  usual 
obstinacy.  A  vulgar  and  eminently  shallow-pated 
man,  he  imagined  he  would  reach  the  pinnacle  of  bliss 
if  his  queen  would  "accompany"  him,  that  is,  if  she 
would  drink  vodka  with  him. 

Anninka  for  some  time  declined,  referring  to  the 
fact  that  Lyulkin  never  compelled  Lubinka  to  drink 
vodka. 

"And  yet  she  drinks  out  of  love  for  Lyulkin,"  Ku- 
kishev retorted.     "And  may  I  ask  you,  darling,  do  you 


THE  SETTLEMENT  39^ 

take  the  Lyulkins  as  an  example?  They  are  Lyul- 
kins,  while  you  and  I,  we  are  Kukishevs.  Therefore 
we  will  drink  in  our  own  Kukishev  way." 

Kukishev  had  his  way.  Once  Anninka  took  a  small 
glass  of  green  liquid  from  the  hands  of  her  'Ъе- 
loved"  and  gulped  it  down.  Of  course  she  saw  stars, 
choked,  coughed,  became  dizzy,  thereby  putting  Ku- 
kishev in  transports  of  delight. 

"Permit  me  to  remark,  darling,  that  you  do  not 
drink  well !  You  did  it  too  fast,"  he  instructed  her, 
as  she  quieted  down  somewhat.  "The  wineglass 
should  be  held  in  the  tiny  hands,  so !  Then  you  bring 
it  over  to  the  lips,  slowly — one,  two,  three — the  Lord 
bless  us!" 

And  he  calmly  and  gravely  gulped  down  the  con- 
tents of  the  glass,  as  if  he  were  pouring  vodka  into 
a  barrel.  He  did  not  even  frown,  but  only  took  a  bit 
of  black  bread,  dipped  it  in  the  salt  cellar,  and 
chewed  it. 

And  so  Kukishev  succeeded  in  realizing  his  second 
"idea"  and  even  began  to  plan  another  one,  which 
would  beat  the  Lyulkins  hollow.  Of  course  he  suc- 
ceeded in  inventing  one. 

"You  know,"  he  suddenly  announced,  "as  soon  as 
summer  comes  we  will  go  to  my  mill  with  the  Lyul- 
kins, take  along  some  provisions  and  bathe  in  the 
river." 

"Never!"   Anninka  objected   indignantly. 

"Why  not?  We  wnll  bathe,  then  have  a  cocktail, 
rest  a  little,  and  bathe  again.  That  would  be  de- 
lightful." 

It  is  not  known  whether  Kukishev's  third  idea 
materialized  or  not,  but  it  is  certain  that  this  drunken 
debauchery  lasted  a  whole  year,   during  which  time 


94  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

neither  the  zemstvo  nor  the  city  administration  exhib- 
ited the  sHghtest  anxiety  concerning  Messrs.  Kukishev 
and  Lyulkin.  For  appearance's  sake  Lyulkin  visited 
Moscow  twice,  and  on  his  return  declared  he  had  sold 
one  of  his  forests.  On  being  reminded  that  he  had 
sold  the  same  forest  four  years  before  when  living 
with  Domashka  the  gypsy,  he  answered  it  was  an- 
other forest  that  he  had  sold  that  time,  and,  to  give 
his  tale  the  appearance  of  veracity,  he  added  detailed 
information  concerning  the  name  of  his  newly  sold 
forest-estate.  As  for  Kukishev,  he  gave  currency  to 
the  story  that  he  had  smuggled  in  a  large  stock  of 
embroidery  from  abroad,  thereby  earning  a  great  deal 
of  money. 

In  September  of  the  next  year  the  chief  of  po- 
lice asked  Kukishev  for  a  *'loan"  of  a  thousand  rubles 
and  Kukishev  was  foolish  enough  to  refuse.  Then 
the  police  superintendent  began  to  confer  secretly  with 
the  assistant  attorney.  ("Both  of  them  guzzled  cham- 
pagne in  my  house  every  evening,"  Kukishev  testified 
later  at  the  trial.)  On  September  17th,  at  the  anni- 
versary of  Kukishev's  liaison,  when  he  and  the  others 
celebrated  Lubinka's  birthday  again,  a  member  of  the 
city  council  came  running  in  and  announced  to  Kuki- 
shev that  a  warrant  was  being  made  out  at  the  City 
Board  for  his  arrest. 

''They  must  have  found  out  something!"  Kukishev 
exclaimed  rather  pluckily,  and  without  further  com- 
ment followed  the  messenger  to  the  council-hall,  and 
from  there  to  prison. 

The  next  day  the  zemstvo  council  also  took  fright. 
The  members  assembled  and  ordered  the  money  in  the 
treasury  counted  and  recounted,  and  at  last  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  their  treasury,  too,  had  been  drained 


THE  SETTLEMENT  395 

by  somebody.  Lyulkin  was  present  at  the  examina- 
tion, pale,  gloomy,  but  ''noble" !  When  the  loss  had 
been  discovered,  and  when  it  became  apparent  to  Lyul- 
kin that  he  had  no  hope  of  escaping,  he  walked  to  the 
window,  drew  a  revolver  from  his  pocket,  and  fired 
a  bullet  into  his  temple. 

The  event  created  quite  a  turmoil  in  the  town.  The 
people  pitied  Lyulkin,  saying,  "At  least  he  ended  no- 
bly!" But  the  general  opinion  about  Kukishev  was, 
"He  was  born  a  shopkeeper,  and  a  shopkeeper  he  will 
die!"  Concerning  Anninka  and  Lubinka  they  simply 
said  that  "they  were  the  cause  of  it  all,"  and  that  it 
would  not  do  any  harm  to  put  them  behind  the 
bars,  too,  so  that  in  future  matters  might  not  be  very 
inviting  for  such  wretches. 

The  prosecutors,  however,  did  not  arrest  them,  but 
terrorized  them  so  mercilessly  that  they  were  com- 
pletely dismayed.  Of  course  there  were  some  kind 
people  who  advised  them  to  conceal  all  their  valuables, 
but  they  listened  and  understood  nothing.  Owing  to 
this,  the  attorney  for  the  plaintiffs  (both  councils  hired 
the  same  attorney),  a  daring  fellow,  wishing  to  satis- 
fy his  clients,  came  to  the  sisters  one  day,  accompanied 
by  the  process  server,  to  take  an  inventory.  He  seized 
and  sealed  everything  except  their  dresses  and  such 
gold  and  silver  things  as  bore  inscriptions  showing 
they  had  been  the  gifts  of  the  appreciative  public. 
Lubinka,  however,  succeeded  in  hiding  a  roll  of  bank- 
notes, presented  to  her  the  previous  evening,  in  her 
corset.  It  was  a  thousand  rubles,  on  which  the  sis- 
ters would  have  to  exist  for  an  lYidefinite  time. 

In  expectation  of  Kukishev's  trial,  they  were  kept 
in  the  town  about  four  months.  Then  the  trial  began, 
and  the  sisters,  Anninka  particularly,  had  to  undergo 


39б  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

a  ruthless  ordeal.  Kukishev  was  cynical  in  the  ex- 
treme. He  revelled  in  the  disclosure  of  details,  for 
which  there  was  really  no  need,  but  apparently  he  was 
desirous  of  striking  a  pose  before  the  ladies  of  Samo- 
varnov  and  exposed  everything  indiscreetly.  The  at- 
torney and  the  private  prosecutor,  young  and  anxious 
to  afford  pleasure  to  the  ladies,  took  advantage  of  this 
and  endeavored  to  lend  the  proceeding  a  frivolous 
character,  in  which  they  succeeded,  of  course.  An- 
ninka  fainted  a  number  of  times,  but  the  private  prose- 
cutor paid  no  attention  to  this  and  bombarded  her  with 
questions.  At  last  the  investigation  ended,  and  both 
sides  had  their  say.  Late  at  night  the  jurors  an- 
nounced that  Kukishev  was  guilty,  but  that  there  were 
alleviating  circumstances.  In  view  of  this  he  was 
sentenceB  to  be  deported  to  Western  Siberia.  When 
the  trial  was  over,  the  sisters  obtained  permission  to 
leave  Samovarnov.  And  it  was  high  time,  for  the 
thousand  rubles  were  nearly  exhausted.  Besides,  the 
manager  of  the  Kretchetov  theatre,  with  whom  they 
had  made  arrangements,  demanded  that  they  appear 
in  Kretchetov  at  once,  threatening  to  discontinue  ne- 
gotiations if  they  delayed.  Nothing  was  seen  or  heard 
of  the  valuables  and  documents  sealed  at  the  demand 
of  the  private  prosecutor. 

Such  were  the  consequences  of  their  disregard  for 
their  ''treasure."  Tormented,  crushed,  despised  by 
everybody,  the  sisters  lost  all  faith  in  their  own 
strength  and  all  hope  for  a  brighter  future.  They  be- 
came emaciated,  slovenly,  cowardly.  And  Anninka, 
to  boot,  having  been  Л1  Kukishev's  school,  had  learned 
to  drink. 

Matters  grew  worse.  No  sooner  did  they  alight 
from  the  train  at  Kretchetov  than  they  at  once  found 


THE  SETTLEMENT  397 

"protectors."  Lubinka  was  taken  by  Captain  Pop- 
kov,  Anninka  by  the  merchant  Zabvenny.  But  the 
jolly  times  were  no  more.  Both  Popkov  and  Zab- 
venny were  coarse,  quarrelsome,  and  rather  close- 
fisted.  After  three  or  four  months  they  became  con- 
siderably colder.  The  sisters  were  even  less  success- 
ful on  the  stage  than  in  love  affairs.  The  manager 
who  had  accepted  the  sisters  on  the  strength  of  the 
scandal  they  had  caused  at  Samovarnov  quite  unex- 
pectedly found  himself  out  of  his  reckoning.  At  the 
very  first  performance  somebody  in  the  gallery  shouted 
when  the  two  girls  made  their  appearance  on  the 
stage,  ''You  convicts!"  And  the  name  stuck.  It  de- 
cided Anninka's  and  Lubinka's  theatrical  fate. 

They  now  lived  a  dull,  drowsy  life,  devoid  of  all 
intellectual  interest.  The  public  was  cold,  the  mana- 
gers scowled  at  them,  the  ''protectors"  would  not  in- 
tercede. Zabvenny  dreamed,  as  once  Kukishev  had, 
of  how  he  would  "compel"  his  queen  to  have  a  cock- 
tail with  him,  how  she  would  at  first  affect  horror,  and 
gradually  submit.  But  he  was  very  angry  when  he 
found  out  that  she  was  already  past  mistress  in  the 
art  of  drinking.  The  only  satisfaction  left  him  was 
to  show  his  friends  how  Anninka  "guzzled  vodka." 
Popkov,  too,  was  dissatisfied  and  declared  Lubinka 
had  grown  thin. 

"You  once  had  flesh  on  your  bones,"  he  would  say, 
"tell  me,  where  did  you  lose  it?" 

On  account  of  this,  he  was  not  only  unceremonious 
with  her,  but  often  even  beat  her  when  he  was  drunk. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  winter  the  sisters  had  neither 
"real"  admirers  nor  a  "permament  position."  They 
still  stuck  to  the  theatre,  but  there  could  be  no  ques- 
tion now  either  of  Pericola  or  the  Old-time  Colonels. 


398  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

Lubinka  was  more  cheerful,  but  Anninka,  being  more 
high-strung,  broke  down  completely.  She  seemed  to 
have  forgotten  the  past  and  was  not  aware  of  the  pres- 
ent. In  addition,  she  began  to  cough  suspiciously,  ap- 
parently on  her  way  toward  an  enigmatic  malady. 

Next  summer  was  terrible.  Gradually  the  sisters 
were  taken  to  hotels  and  were  given  to  travelling  gen- 
tlemen for  a  moderate  fixed  price.  Scandals  and 
beatings  followed  one  another,  but  the  sisters  clung 
to  life  desperately,  with  the  tenacity  of  cats.  They 
reminded  one  of  those  wretched  dogs  who,  in  spite 
of  being  crippled  by  a  beating,  crawl  back  to  their 
favorite  place,  whining  as  they  go.  It  was  not  proper 
to  keep  women  like  that  on  the  stage. 

In  those  dark  days  only  once  did  a  ray  of  light  find 
its  way  into  Anninka's  existence.  Miloslavsky  X,  the 
tragedian,  sent  her  a  letter  from  Samovarnov  in  which 
he  persistently  offered  her  his  hand  and  heart.  An- 
ninka  read  the  letter  and  cried.  The  night  long  she 
tossed  about  in  bed,  and  in  the  morning  she  sent  a 
curt  reply,  ''Why?  Only  that  we  may  drink  to- 
gether?" Then  darkness  closed  down  upon  her  in- 
tenser  than  ever,  and  endless,  base  debauchery  began 
again. 

Lubinka  was  the  first  to  wake  up,  or  if  not  to  wake 
up,  at  least  to  feel  instinctively  that  she  had  lived 
long  enough.  There  was  no  work  in  sight.  Her 
youth,  her  beauty,  and  her  embryonic  talent,  all  had 
somehow  vanished.  That  they^rScTa  shelter  in  Pogo- 
relka,  she  never  remembered.  It  was  something  dis- 
tant, vague,  long-forgotten.  They  never  did  have 
much  of  a  liking  for  Pogorelka,  and  now  their  hatred 
toward  the  place  was  only  intensified.  Even  when 
they  were  almost  starving  the  place  attracted  her  less 


THE  SETTLEMENT  399 

than  ever.  And  what  sort  of  a  figure  would  she 
cut  there?  A  figure  which  all  sorts  of  drunken, 
lustful  breaths  had  branded  as  a  ''creature."  Those 
accursed  breaths  saturated  her  entire  body.  She  felt 
them  everywhere,  in  every  place.  And  what  is  more 
horrible,  she  grew  so  accustomed  to  those  disgusting 
breaths  that  they  became  a  part  of  her  very  being.  So 
with  Anninka,  too.  Neither  the  stench  of  eating- 
houses,  nor  the  din  of  the  inns,  nor  the  obscene  lan- 
guage of  the  drunkards  seemed  abominable  to  them, 
so  that  had  they  gone  to  Pogorelka,  they  would  surely 
have  missed  the  ''life."  Besides,  even  in  Pogorelka 
they  must  have  something  to  live  on.  All  these  many 
years  that  they  had  wandered  about  the  world  they 
had  heard  nothing  of  the  revenue  that  Pogorelka 
brought.  Perhaps  the  estate  was  a  myth.  Perhaps 
the  folks  had  all  died,  all  those  witnesses  of  the  dis- 
tant and  yet  ever-present  years,  when  they  had  been 
brought  up  by  their  grandmother,  Arina  Petrovna,  on 
sour  milk  and  stale  cured  meat. 

It  was  clear  that  it  was  best  for  Lubinka  to  die.  A 
Once  this  thought  dawns  on  one's  consciousness,  it  I 
becomes  an  obsession.     The,sisters  not  infrequently   ' 
had  moments  of  awakening,  but  in  the  case  of  Anninka 
they  were  accompanied  by  hysterics,  sobs,  tears,  and 
so  passed  away  faster.     Lubinka  was  colder  by  na- 
ture.    She  did  not  cry  or  curse,  but  the  thought  that 
she  was  a  "hussy"  constantly  preyed  on  her  mind. 
And   Lubinka  was   more   reasonable   and   saw   quite 
clearly  that  there  was  not  even  any  profit  in  their 
mode  of  living.     For  the  future  she  expected  nothing 
but  shame,  poverty  and  the  street.     Shame  is  a  mat- 
ter of  habit,  it  can  be  tolerated,  but  poverty — never! 
It  is  better  to  end  it  all  at  once. 


400  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

"We  must  die,"  she  once  said  to  Anninka  in  that 
same  cool  and  deliberate  tone  in  which  two  years  ago 
she  had  asked  her  for  whom  she  was  saving  her 
^'treasure." 

"Why?"  Anninka  objected,  somewhat  frightened. 

"I  mean  it  seriously.  We  must  die,"  Lubinka  re- 
peated.    "Understand,  wake  up,  think!" 

"Well — let  us  die,"  Anninka  assented,  hardly  real- 
izing the  dismal  meaning  of  her  decision. 

That  same  day  Lubinka  cut  off  the  tips  of  some 
matches  and  prepared  two  glasses  of  the  mixture. 
One  of  these  she  drank  herself,  the  other  she  offered 
her  sister.  But  Anninka  immediately  lost  courage  and 
refused  to  drink. 

"Drink,  you  slut,"  Lubinka  cried  out.  "Sister,  dear- 
est, darling,  drink!" 

Anninka,  almost  insane  with  fear,  ran  about  the 
room,  instinctively  clutching  at  her  throat  as  if  trying 
to  choke  herself. 

"Drink,  drink — you  street- walker !" 

The  artistic  career  of  the  two  sisters  was  ended. 
That  same  evening  Lubinka's  corpse  was  taken  into 
the  field  and  buried.    Anninka  remained  alive. 


CHAPTER  III 

Anninka  soon  introduced  an  atmosphere  of  Bo- 
hemian life  into  Yudushka's  nest.  She  rose  late  and 
would  roam  about  the  house  until  dinner-time,  un- 
dressed, uncombed,  with  an  aching  head,  and  coughing 
in  such  agony  that  each  time  it  would  send  a  shudder 
through  Porfiry  Vladimirych  in  his  study  and  quite 
frighten  him.  Her  room  was  always  untidy,  the  bed- 
ding in  disorder,  and  her  clothes  lying  about  on  the 
chairs  and  floor.  At  first  she  saw  her  uncle  only  at 
dinner  and  evening  tea.  The  master  of  Golovliovo 
came  out  of  his  room  all  dressed  in  black,  spoke  little, 
and  ate  with  his  old-time  exasperating  slowness.  He 
was  apparently  observing  her.  After  dinner  came  the 
early  December  twilight.  Anninka  loved  to  watch  the 
glimmer  of  the  gray  winter  day  gradually  die  out  and 
the  fields  grow  dim :  she  loved  to  see  the  shadows 
flood  the  rooms  until  finally  the  whole  house  was 
plunged  in  impenetrable  darkness.  In  the  darkness 
she  always  felt  at  ease  and  hardly  ever  lit  the  candles. 
The  only  one  she  allowed  to  burn  was  at  one  end  of 
the  sitting-room.  It  was  of  cheap  palm  wax,  and 
sputtered  and  dripped,  its  feeble  flame  formed  a  tiny 
circle  of  light.  For  some  time  the  house  would  be 
astir  with  the  usual  after-dinner  noises.  Plates  would 
rattle  in  the  hands  of  the  dish-washers,  and  drawers 
open  and  close  with  a  clatter;  but  soon  the  sound  of 

401 


402  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

receding  steps  would  be  heard  and  a  dead  silence  begin 
to  reign.  Porfiry  Vladimirych  would  take  his  after- 
dinner  nap  and  Yevpraksia  bury  herself  in  the  bedding 
in  her  room.  Prokhor  would  go  into  the  servants' 
room,  and  Anninka  would  remain  entirely  alone. 

She  would  pace  from  room  to  room,  humming,  try- 
ing to  tire  herself  out,  but  chiefly  endeavoring  to 
drive  her  thoughts  away.  In  walking  toward  the 
sitting-room  she  would  fix  her  eyes  upon  the  circle  of 
light  about  the  candle,  and  walking  away  from  it,  she 
would  try  to  single  out  some  point  in  the  darkness  and 
keep  her  eyes  fixed  on  it.  But  in  spite  of  her  efforts 
reminiscences  surged  up  in  her  mind  irresistibly.  She 
saw  the  dressing-room  with  its  cheap  wall  paper,  the 
inevitable  pier-glass  and  the  equally  inevitable  bou- 
quet from  Lieutenant  Pankov  II ;  the  stage  with  the 
stage-properties,  sooty,  slippery  from  the  damp;  the 
hall  with  its  pieces  of  furniture  picked  up  at  random 
and  its  boxes  upholstered  in  threadbare  purple  plush, 
— the  hall  which,  seen  from  the  stage,  looked  trim  and 
even  splendid,  but  in  reality  was  dark  and  miserable. 
And  finally — officers,  officers,  officers  without  end. 
Then  she  saw  the  hotel  with  the  vile-smelling  corridor, 
dimly  lit  by  the  smoky  kerosene  lamp ;  the  room  she 
would  dart  into  in  order  to  change  her  dress  for 
further  triumphs,  the  room  with  the  bed  in  disorder 
from  the  morning;  the  wash-stand  full  of  dirty  water, 
the  bed-sheet  lying  on  the  floor,  her  cast-off  underwear 
forgotten  on  a  chair.  Next  she  saw  herself  in  the 
general  dining-room,  filled  with  kitchen  odors,  the 
tables  set  for  supper,  with  its  tobacco  smoke,  noise, 
crowds,  drinking,  debauchery.  And  again  officers, 
officers,  officers  without  end. 

Such  were  her  memories  of  the  time  she  had  once 


THE  SETTLEMENT  403 

called   the  years   of   her   successes,   triumphs,   pros- 
perity. 

These  reminiscences  were  followed  by  others,  the 
prominent  part  in  which  was  played  by  the  inn,  filled 
W4th  a  foul  stench,  with  walls  on  which  the  vapor 
froze  in  the  winter  time,  insecure  flooring,  and  board 
partitions,  the  glossy  bellies  of  bed-bugs  showing  in 
the  crevices.  Nights  of  drinking  and  brawls,  trav- 
elling squires  hastily  taking  greenbacks  out  of  their 
meager  pocket-books,  merchants  encouraging  the  "ac- 
tresses" almost  with  a  whip  in  hand.  And  in  the 
morning — headaches,  nausea,  and  utter  dejection.  At 
last — Golovliovo. 

Golovliovo    was    death    itself,    relentless,    hollow- 
wombed  death,  constantly  lying  in  wait  for  new  vic- 
tims.    Two  uncles  had  died  there,  two  cousins  had 
received  mortal  wounds.     And  Lrbinka!     Although 
Lubinka,  to  be  sure,  had  died  somewhere  in  Kretche- 
tov  because  of  her  "own  affairs,"  yet  the- origin  of  her 
wounds  went  back  to  her  life  at  Golovliovo.     All  the 
deaths,  all  the  poisonings,  all  the  pestilence,  came  from 
there.     There  the  orphans  had   been   fed   on   rotten 
cured  meats,  there  they  heard  the  first  words  of  hatred 
and  contempt  for  human  dignity.     Not  the  slightest 
childish    misdeed    had    passed    without    punishment. 
Nothing  could  be  hidden  from  the  stony-hearted,  ec- 
centric old  woman,  not  an  extra  bite  of  bread,  not  a 
broken  clay  doll,  not  a  torn  rag,  not  a  worn  shoe. 
Each  breach  of  law  and  order  was  instantly  punished 
either  with  a  reproach  or  a  slap.     And  then,   when 
they  had   been   permitted   to   dispose   of   themselves, 
when  they  had  understood  that  they  might  run  away 
from  the  disgusting  place,  they  ran — there!    And  no- 
body kept  them  from  running  away,  nor  could  they 


f; 


404  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

have  been  kept  from  running  away,  because  they  could 
imagine  nothing  worse  or  more  repulsive  than  Golov- 
liovo. 

Ah,  if  all  that  could  only  be  forgotten,  if  one  could 
create  a  different  existence  in  one's  dreams,  a  magic 
world  that  would  supplant  both  the  past  and  the  pres- 
ent! But  alas,  the  reality  Anninka  had  lived  through 
had  so  powerful  a  hold,  that  the  clutch  of  it  suppressed 
the  feeble  efforts  of  her  imagination.  In  vain  did 
fancy  endeavor  to  imagine  angels  with  silvery  wings. 
From  behind  those  angels  peeped  inexorably  the  le- 
gions of  Kukishevs,  Lyulkins,  Zabvennys,  Popkovs. 
Lord !  Was  all  lost  ?  Even  the  ability  to  deceive  and 
beguile  herself?  Had  that  been  lost  forever  in  the 
nighf  revels,  in  wine,  and  in  debauchery  ?  Yet  that 
past  had  to  be  killed  somehow,  so  as  not  to  poison  her 
blood  and  rend  her  heart.  It  had  to  be  crushed,  ut- 
terly annihilated. 

How  strange  and  ruthless  was  that  which  had  hap- 
pened !  It  was  impossible  even  to  conceive  of  some 
future,  of  some  door  by  which  to  escape  from  the  sit- 
uation, of  anything  at  all  that  might  occur  to  change 
things.  Nothing  could  occur.  And  what  was  .even 
more  unbearable  was  the  fact  that  to  all  intents  and 
purposes  she  was  already  dead,  with  the  outward  signs 
of  life  yet  present.  She  should  have  ended  it  then, 
along  with  Lubinka.  Somehow  she  had  remained 
alive.  How  was  It  that  the  mass  of  shame  which  had 
come  upon  her  then  from  all  sides  had  not  crushed  her  ? 
And  what  an  insignificant  worm  she  must  have  been 
to  have  crept  out  from  underneath  that  heap  of  heavy 
stones  piled  up  on  top  of  her! 

She  groaned  in  agony,  and  ran  about  the  sitting- 
room,  trying  to  kill  the  burning  memories.     Before 


THE  SETTLEMENT  405 

her  eyes  swam  familiar  images,  the  Duchess  of  Herol- 
stein  shaking  a  pelisse,  Clarette  Angot  in  her  wedding 
gown  with  a  sht  in  front  up  to  her  waist-line,  Fair 
Helen  with  slits  in  front,  behind  and  at  the  sides. 
Nothing  but  obscenity  and  nakedness.  That  was  what 
her  life  had  consisted  of.  Could  all  that  possibly 
have  occurred? 

About  seven  o'clock  the  house  came  to  life  again. 
The  sounds  of  the  preparations  for  tea  were  heard, 
and  at  last  came  the  voice  of  Porfiry  Vladimirych. 
Uncle  and  niece  sat  down  at  the  tea  table  and  ex- 
changed remarks  about  the  day  just  ended;  but  the 
daily  happenings  were  scanty  and  so  the  conversation 
Avas  brief.  Having  taken  tea  and  kissed  Anninka  on 
the  forehead,  Yudushka  crept  back  into  his  den,  while 
Anninka  went  into  Yevpraksia's  room  to  play  cards. 
At  eleven  o'clock  the  debauchery  began.  Having 
ascertained  that  Porfiry  Vladimirych  was  fast  asleep, 
Yevpraksia  set  the  table  with  various  country  corned 
meats  and  a  bottle  of  vodka.  Now  came  meaningless 
and  obscene  songs,  strumming  on  the  guitar,  and 
Anninka  drinking  between  the  songs  and  the  shameless 
talk.  At  first  she  drank  after  Kukishev's  manner, 
coolly,  with  a  "Lord  bless  us"  to  each  glass,  but  then 
she  gradually  sank  into  gloom  and  began  to  moan  and 
curse.     Yevpraksia  looked  at  her  and  pitied  her: 

"As  I  look  at  you,  lady,"  she  said,  "I  am  so  sorry 
for  you,  so  sorry." 

"Drink  with  me  and  you  won't  be  sorry,"  Anninka 
retorted. 

"No,  how  can  I?  They  nearly  chased  me  out  of 
the  clergy  estate  because  of  your  uncle,  and  now  if  1 
become " 


40б  А  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN  • 

"Well,  then  it  can't  be  helped.  Let  me  sing  you 
The  Mustache." 

She  strummed  the  guitar  again,  and  again  came 
the  cry,  ''I-akh!  I-okh!"  Late  at  night  sleep  would 
suddenly  overtake  her,  obliterating  her  past  and  allay- 
ing her  sufferings  for  a  few  hours.  The  next  day, 
broken  down,  half-insane,  she  would  again  creep  out 
from  beneath  the  deadening  load  of  sleep  and  live 
anew. 

One  of  those  vile  nights  when  Anninka  was  sing- 
ing her  filthy  songs  to  Yevpraksia,  Yudushka*s  pale 
face,  ghastly  and  harrassed,  appeared  in  the  doorway. 
His  lips  were  quivering,  his  sunken  eyes  looked 
like  sightless  cavities  by  the  light  of  the  candle. 
His  hands  were  folded  for  prayer.  For  a  few  sec- 
onds he  stood  in  front  of  the  dumfounded  women, 
and  then  slowly  faced  round  and  passed  out. 


CHAPTER  IV 

There  are  families  that  are  weighed  down  by  an^\] 
inevitable  fate.  They  are  frequent  among  that  por- 
tion of  the  nobility  which  once  lived  idle,  useless,  and 
uninfluential,  under  the  wing  of  serfdom  in  all  parts 
of  Russia  and  is  now  passing  its  last  days  helpless 
and  unprotected  in  dilapidated  manor-houses.  In  the 
life  of  these  wretched  families  both  success  and  failure 
come  unexpectedly  and  as  if  by  sheer  accident. 

Sometimes  it  happens  that  a  shower  of  good  luck, 
as  it  were,  suddenly  comes  streaming  down  on  such 
a  family.  The  ruined  cornet  and  his  wife,  peacefully 
fading  away  in  an  out-of-the-way  village,  will  sud- 
denly be  blessed  with  a  brood  of  young  people,  strong, 
clean,  alert,  pushing,  adaptable  to  the  new  conditions 
of  life — the  boys  as  well  as  the  girls — in  a  word, 
''knowing  ones.**  The  boys  pass  examinations  with 
flying  colors  and  even  establish  connections  and  pro- 
cure patrons  while  still  at  school.  In  the  nick  of  time 
they  exhibit  their  modesty  ("faime  cette  modestie," 
their  superiors  say  about  them),  and  in  the  nick  of 
time  they  show  that  they  can  be  independent  (''faime 
cette  independance!")  They  quickly  scent  the  direc- 
tion from  which  the  wind  blows,  but  they  never  burn 
their  bridges,  so  that  retreat  is  free  and  easy.  These 
successful  makers  of  our  modern  history  begin  with 
obsequious  cringing,  and  almost  invariably  end  with 

407 


4o8  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

perfidy.  As  to  the  girls,  they,  too,  in  their  line,  con- 
tribute to  the  regeneration  of  the  family,  that  is,  they 
all  marry  successfully  and  then  exhibit  so  much  tact 
in  the  art  of  dressing  that  they  experience  no  diffi- 
culty in  gaining  prominent  places  in  so-called  society. 

From  this  combination  of  circumstances,  success 
fairly  pours  down  upon  the  impoverished  family.  The 
first  successful  members  who  struggle  through  cour- 
ageously, bring  up  another  clean  generation,  which  is 
still  better  off  because  the  main  paths  have  not  only 
been  broken  but  also  well  trodden.  Other  generations 
succeed  until  at  last  a  family  comes  that  has  no  pre- 
liminary struggles  and  deems  it  has  an  inborn  right 
to  lifelong  rejoicing. 

Lately,  on  account  of  a  modern  demand  for  so- 
called  "new  men"  resulting  from  the  gradual  degen- 
eration of  the  old  men,  there  have  been  frequent  in- 
stances of  successful  families.  Even  in  earlier  days 
a  comet  would  now  and  then  make  its  appearance  on 
the  horizon,  but  it  was  a  rare  occurrence,  the  reason 
being  that,  first,  there  were  no  cracks  in  the  wall  sur- 
rounding that  blissful  region  over  the  gateway  to  which 
is  inscribed  :  "Here  pies  are  eaten  daily,"  and,  secondly, 
because  in  order  to  penetrate  into  that  region,  one 
had  to  have  genuine  ability.  But  now  quite  a  number 
of  cracks  have  appeared  and  the  matter  of  penetration 
is  considerably  simplified,  since  great  merits  are  no 
longer  demanded„of  the  newcomer,  but  only  "newness" 
and  nothing  else. 

Besides  these  lucky  families  there  is  a  great  mul- 
titude of  families  upon  whose  members  the  household 
gods  bestow  nothing  but  misfortune  and  despair.  Like 
a  baleful  blight,  vice  and  ill-luck  beset  them  and  de- 
vour their"' suBstance.     The  malignant  influences   at- 


THE  SETTLE^IENT  409 

tack  the  whole  stock,  eating  their  way  into  the  very- 
heart  and  laying  waste  generation  after  generation. 
There  is  born  a  race  of  weaklings,  drunkards,  petty^ 
rakes,  idlers  and  shiftless  ne'er-do-wells.  As  time 
goes  on  the  race  degenerates  more  and  more,  until 
finally  there  appear  miserable  weaklings,  like  Yudush- 
ka's  two  sons,  who  perish  at  the  first  onslaught  of  life. 

Such  a  sinister  fate  pursued  the  Golovliovo  family. 
For  several  generations,  their  history  was  marked  by 
three  characteristics,  idleness,  utter  uselessness,  and 
habitual  hard  drinking,  the  last  coming  as  the  sorry 
crown  to  a  chaotic  life.  The  Golovliovo  family  would 
have  run  to  seed  completely  but  for  the  fact  that 
Arina  Petrovna  flashed  like  a  casual  meteor  through 
this  drunken  confusion.  By  her  personal  energy  alone 
this  woman  brought  the  family  to  an  unprecedented 
height  of  prosperity.  Nevertheless  her  labors  were 
in  vain.  Not  only  did  she  not  transmit  any  of  her 
qualities  to  her  children,  but  she  herself  died  ensnared 
by  idleness,  empty  talk  and  mental  vacuity. 

Until  now  Porfiry  Vladimirych  had  held  out  against 
the  temptation  of  drink.  It  may  be  that  he  had  been 
frightened  off  by  the  fate  of  his  brothers  and  had  con- 
sciously abstained  from  drink,  or  that  he  had  been 
satisfied  by  the  intoxication  of  his  frenzied  day  dreams. 
But  it  was  not  for  nothing  that  he  had  the  reputation 
of  a  drunkard  among  his  neighbors.  At  times  he  him- 
self felt  something  was  lacking  in  his  existence.  Idle 
musings  gave  him  much,  but  not  all.  They  did  not 
supply  that  ^harp,  stupefying  sensation  which  would 
completely  do  away  ^vrFFTTiis  sense  of  reality  and  plunge 
him  headlong  into  the  void  forever. 

And  now  the  long-wished-for  opportunity  pre- 
sented  itself.        Ever   since   Anninka's   arrival,    Yu- 


4IO  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

dushka  had  been  aware  of  a  vague  noise  at  night 
coming  from  the  other  end  of  the  house.  For  a  long 
time  he  had  puzzled  his  head  over  the  significance  of 
the  mysterious  sounds.  At  last  he  discovered  what 
they  were. 

Anninka  expected  a  reprimand  the  next  day.  None 
came.  Porfiry  Vladimirych  spent  the  morning  locked 
up  in  his  study  as  usual,  but  when  he  appeared  at  the 
midday  meal,  he  poured  out  two  wineglasses  of  vodka 
instead  of  only  one  for  himself,  and  pointed  to  one 
with  a  sheepish  smile.  Anninka  accepted  the  silent 
invitation. 

"So  you  say  Lubinka  is  dead?"  said  Yudushka  when 
the  dinner  was  well  under  way,  as  if  recalling  some- 
thing. * 

"Yes,  uncle,  she  is  dead." 

"Well,  God  rest  her  soul!  To  grumble  is  a  sin, 
but  to  honor  her  memory  is  quite  fitting.     Shall  we  ?" 

"Yes,  uncle,  let's  honor  her  memory." 

They  emptied  one  more  glass,  and  then  Yudushka 
grew  silent.  He  was  evidently  still  unaccustomed  to 
the  society  of  human  beings.  When  the  meal  was 
over,  Anninka,  performing  a  family  rite,  kissed  uncle's 
cheek,  and  in  response  he  patted  her  on  her  cheek 
and  said: 

"So  that's  the  kind  you  are." 

The  evening  of  the  same  day,  at  tea,  which  lasted 
longer  this  time  than  usual,  Porfiry  Vladimirych 
looked  at  his  niece  for  a  while  with  a  quizzical  smile, 
and  finally  said: 

"Shall  we  have  some  corned  meats  served?" 

"Well,  if  you  wish." 

"Yes.  It's  better  you  should  do  it  in  uncle's  sight 
than  on  the  sly.     At  least,  uncle  will " 


THE  SETTLEMENT  411 

Yudushka  did  not  finish  the  sentence.  Perhaps  he 
had  wanted  to  say  that  uncle  would  keep  her  from 
drinking,  but  something  prevented  him  from  saying  it. 

From  that  time  on  cold  cuts  were  served  in  the  din- 
ing-room every  evening.  The  outer  window  shutters 
were  closed,  the  servants  retired,  and  uncle  and  niece 
remained  all  alone.  In  the  beginning  Yudushka  did 
not  keep  pace  with  Anninka,  but  with  a  little  practice 
he  came  up  to  her.  They  sat  slowly  sipping  their 
vodka  and  talking.  The  conversation,  at  first  dull  and 
indifferent,  became  more  and  more  animated  as  their 
heads  grew  hotter,  and  invariably  passed  into  a 
chaotic  quarrel,  at  the  bottom  of  which  were  always 
reminiscences  about  the  victims  of  Golovliovo. 

Anninka  started  the  quarrels.  She  dug  up  the 
family  archives  with  ruthless  persistence  and  delighted 
in  teasing  Yudushka  by  arguing  that  he  along  with 
Arina  Petrovna  had  been  the  chief  cause  of  the  Golov- 
liovo tragedies.  Every  word  breathed  such  cynicism 
and  such  burning  hatred  that  it  was  difficult  to  un- 
derstand how  so  much  vitality  could  still  exist  in  that 
worn-out,  shattered  body.  Anninka's  attacks  galled 
Yudushka  immensely,  but  he  defended  himself  feebly, 
angrily  sputtering  ejaculations  of  discomfiture.  At 
times,  when  Anninka  went  too  far  in  her  insolence, 
he  shouted  and  cursed. 

Such  scenes  repeated  themselves  day  in,  day  out, 
without  change.  Every  detail  of  the  pitiful  family 
chronicle  was  speedily  exhausted,  but  it  still  held  the 
minds  of  the  two  riveted.  Every  episode  of  the 
past  lacerated  some  wound  in  their  hearts,  and  they 
felt  a  bitter  delight  in  constantly  evoking,  scrutinizing 
and  exaggerating  painful  memories.  Neither  the 
past  nor  the  present  contained  any  moral  mainstay 


412  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

on  which  Anninka  could  lean.  Nothing  but  sordid 
stinginess  on  one  side,  and  mental  vacuity  on  the 
other.  Her  youthful  heart  had  thirsted  for  warmth 
and  love,  but  had  received  a  stone  instead  of  bread, 
blows  instead  of  instruction.  By  the  irony  of  fate, 
the  cruel  school  in  which  she  had  been  taught  imi- 
planted  in  her  not  an  austere  attitude  toward  life,  but 
a  passionate  yearning  to  partake  of  its  sweet  poisons. 
Youth  had  wrought  the  miracle  of  oblivion,  it  kept  her 
heart  from  hardening  and  the  germs  of  hatred  from 
developing.  Youth  had  made  her  drunk  with  the 
]  thirst  for  life.  That  was  why  a  turbulent,  furtive 
debauchery  had  held  her  in  its  sway~f6F"severar years, 
and  had  pushed  Golovliovo  into  the  background.  Now, 
when  the  end  was  drawing  close,  her  heart  began  to 
ache.  Now  for  the  first  time  did  Anninka  grasp  the 
significance  of  her  past  and  begin  to  hate  it  truly. 

The  drinking  lasted  far  ir  о  the  night,  and  had  it 
not  been  for  the  drunken  confusion  of  both  thoughts 
and  words,  it  might  have  resulted  in  something  fright- 
ful. But  if  alcohol  opened  the  well-springs  of  pain 
in  these  shattered  hearts,  it  also  appeased  them.  The 
further  the  night  advanced,  the  more  incoherent  be- 
came their  talk  and  the  more  impotent  their  hatred. 
Toward  the  end  of  the  debauch,  the  aching  disap- 
peared and  their  surroundings  vanished  from  their 
eyes,  supplanted  by  a  shining  void.  They  faltered, 
their  eyes  closed,  they  grew^  muscle-bound.  Uncle  and 
niece  would  then  rise  from  their  places  and  retire  to 
their  rooms  \vith  tottering  steps. 

Of  course,  these  night  adventures  could  not  remain 
a  secret.  Before  long  the  notion  of  crime  became 
associated  with  them  in  the  minds  of  the  servants. 
Life    abandoned    the    vast    Golovliovo    manor-house. 


ТНД  SETTLEMENT  413 

Nothing  stirred  even  in  the  morning.  Uncle  and 
niece  rose  late  and  till  the  midday  meal  Anninka's 
racking  cough,  accompanied  by  curses,  rang  from  one 
end  of  the  house  to  the  other.  Yudushka  listened  to 
the  harrowing  sounds  in  terror  and  a  vague  presenti- 
ment of  his  own  impending  doom  stirred  in  him. 

It  seemed  that  all  the  Golovliovo  victims  were  now 
creeping  from  out  of  the  nooks  and  crannies  of  the 
deserted  house.  Gray  apparitions  stirred  everywhere. 
Here  was  old  Vladimir  Mikhailovich,  in  his  white 
nightcap,  making  wry  faces  and  citing  Barkov;  here 
was  Simple  Simon  and  Pavel  the  Sneak;  here  were 
Lubinka  and  the  last  offshoots  of  the  Golovliovo  stock, 
Volodya  and  Petka.  All  were  drunk,  lustful,  weary 
and  bleeding.  And  over  all  these  ghosts  there  brooded 
a  living  phantom,  Porfiry  Vladimirych  Golovliov,  the 
last  representative  of  the  decadent  family. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  continual  reverting  to  the  past  and  its  victims 
was  bound  to  have  its  effect  on  Yudushka.  The  natu- 
ral outcome — was  it  fear? — No,  rather  the  awakening 
of  conscience.  He  discovered  he  had  a  conscience,  and 
oblivion  and  contempt,  although  blunting  its  sensitive- 
ness, could  not  destroy  it. 

The  awakening  of  a  torpid  conscience  is  usually 
fraught  with  pain.  It  brings  no  peace,  holds  no  prom- 
ise of  a  new  life,  but  merely  tortures,  endlessly 
and  fruitlessly.  Man  sees  himself  immured  in  a 
narrow  prison,  a  helpless  victim  of  the  agonies  of 
repentance,  with  no  hope  of  ever  returning  to  life. 
And  he  perceives  no  other  way  of  allaying  his  gnaw- 
ing pain  than  to  break  his  head  against  the  stony  walls 
of  the  prison  cell. 

Never  in  the  course  of  his  long,  useless  life  had  it 
occurred  to  Yudushka  that  dire  tragedies  were  inter- 
woven with  his  existence.  He  had  lived  peacefully 
and  calmly,  with  a  constant  prayer  on  his  lips,  and  the 
thought  had  been  far  from  him  that  this  manner  of 
life  had  caused  so  much  sorrow.  Least  of  all  could 
he  imagine  that  he  himself  had  been  the  source  of 
these  tragedies.  Suddenly  the  terrible  truth  was  re- 
vealed to  his  conscience,  but  all  too  late — too  late  for 
him  to  make  amends  for  the  crimes  of  his  life.     He 

414 


THE  SETTLEMENT  415 

was  unsociable,  old,  with  one  foot  in  the  grave,  and 
there  was  not  a  single  human  being  who  approached 
him  with  loving  pity.  Why  was  he  alone?  Why  did 
he  see  nothing  but  indifference  and  hatred  around  him? 
Why  was  it  that  everything  he  touched  had  perished? 
This  estate  of  Golovliovo  was  once  so  full,  a  human 
nest.  How  had  it  happened  that  now  there  was  not 
a  trace,  not  a  feather  left?  Of  the  fledgelings  nursed 
there  his  niece  was  the  only  one  that  remained  alive, 
and  she  had  come  back  only  to  sneer  at  him  and  deal 
him  his  deathblow.  Even  Yevpraksia,  simple  as  she 
was,  hated  him.  She  lived  at  Golovliovo  because 
Porfiry  sent  her  father,  the  sgjcristan,  provisions  every 
month,  but  undoubtedly  she  hated  him.  He  had  made 
her  unhappy,  too,  by  robbing  her  of  her  child.  What 
was  the  outcome  of  his  existence?  Wherefore  had  he 
lied,  babbled,  persecuted,  hoarded?  Who  would  in- 
herit his  wealth?  Who  was  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his 
life?     Who? 

I  repeat,  his  conscience  had  awakened.  Yudushka 
waited  for  the  evening  with  feverish  impatience  not 
only  in  order  to  get  bestially  drunk,  but  also  to  drown 
his  conscience.  He  hated  the  "dissolute  wench,"  who 
lacerated  his  wounds  with  such  cold  cynicism,  yet  he 
was  drawn  to  her  irresistibly,  as  if  there  was  still 
something  to  be  said  between  them  and  some  wounds 
to  be  torn  open.  Every  evening  he  made  Anninka 
retell  the  story  of  Lubinka's  death,  and  every  evening 
the  idea  of  self-destruction  became  riper  in  his  mind. 
At  first,  the  idea  occurred  to  him  casually.  But  as 
his  iniquities  became  more  apparent  to  him,  it  sank 
deeper  and  deeper  into  his  being  and  soon  was  the 
sole  shining  spot  in  all  the  gloom  he  saw  ahead  of  him. 


4i6  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

And  his  health  began  to  decline  rapidly.  He 
coughed  violently  and  at  times  had  spells  of  asthma 
that  in  themselves  were  sufficient  to  make  life  intol- 
erable, let  alone  the  moral  pangs  from  which  he  suf- 
fered. All  the  symptoms  of  the  malady  that  had  sent 
his  brothers  to  their  graves  were  present.  He  heard 
the  groans  of  his  brother  Pavel,  as  he  choked  in  the 
entresol  of  the  Dubrovino  manor-house.  Still  Yu- 
dushka  was  doggedly  tenacious  of  life.  His  sunken, 
emaciated  chest  held  out  against  the  pain  that  grew 
from  hour  to  hour.  It  was  as  if  his  body  too  were 
resisting  with  unexpected  vigor  so  as  to  take  revenge 
on  him  for  his  crimes. 

"Is  this  the  end?"  he  would  wonder  hopefully,  when- 
ever he  felt  the  approach  of  a  paroxysm.  But  death 
was  slow  in  coming.  Evidently  it  would  be  necessary 
to  use  violence  to  hasten  the  end.  All  his  accounts 
with  life  were  settled — it  was  both  painful  and  useless 
to  him.  What  he  needed  was  death,  but,  to  his  sor- 
row, death  was  slow  in  coming.  There  is  something 
mean  and  treacherous  in  the  teasing  hesitancy  of 
death  when  it  is  called  upon  with  all  the  strength  of 
one's  soul. 

It  was  late  in  March  and  Passion  Week  was  near- 
ing  its  end.  However  abject  Yudushka's  condition 
was,  he  preserved  an  attitude  of  reverence  toward  the 
sanctity  of  these  days  implanted  in  him  in  his  child- 
hood. His  thoughts  of  themselves  took  a  serious 
turn,  and  there  was  no  other  desire  in  his  heart  than 
complete  silence.  In  this  mood  the  evenings  were 
no  longer  spent  in  wild  drinking,  but  passed  in  gloomy 
silence. 

Porfiry  \/'ladimirych  and  Anninka  were  sitting  all 


THE  SETTLEMENT  417 

alone  in  the  dining-room.  The  evening  service,  ac- 
companied by  the  reading  of  the  gospel,  had  just 
ended,  and  the  odor  of  incense  still  lingered  in  the 
room.  The  clock  struck  ten,  the  servants  had  re- 
tired, and  deep,  pensive  quiet  settled  over  the  house. 
Anninka,  her  hands  clasping  her  head,  was  deep  in 
thought.  Porfiry  Vladimirych  sat  opposite,  silent  and 
sad. 

Upon  Anninka  the  Passion  Week  evening  service 
always  made  an  overwhelming  impression.  As  a 
child  she  had  wept  bitterly  at  the  priest's  words : 
"And  when  they  platted  a  crown  of  thorns,  they  put 
it  upon  His  head,  and  a  reed  in  His  right  hand,"  and  in 
a  trernulous  treble  she  used  to  sing  after  the  sexton : 
*'Glory  be  to  Thy  long-suffering,  oh.  Lord !  Glory  be 
to  Thee!"  After  the  service  she  used  to  run,  all 
a-quiver  with  emotion,  to  the  maids'  room,  and  there, 
in  the  growing  twilight  (Arina  Petrovna  allowed  no 
candles  in  that  room  when  there  was  no  work  being 
done),  she  related  *The  Passion  of  our  Lord"  to 
the  servants.  Silent  tears  flowed  from  the  eyes  of 
the  slaves,  and  they  heaved  deep  sighs.  The  poor 
servants  felt  their  Master  and  Redeemer  with  their 
whole  hearts  and  believed  He  would  arise  from  the 
dead,  arise  from  the  dead  in  truth.  Anninka,  too, 
felt  and  believed.  Beyond  the  gloom  of  their  life  of 
suffering  and  persecution,  all  these  poor  in  spirit  be- 
held the  radiant  kingdom  of  freedom.  Even  the  old 
lady,  usually  so  redoubtable,  was  gentle  during  Pas- 
sion Week.  She  did  not  grumble  or  remind  Anninka 
that  she  was  an  orphan.  On  the  contrary,  she  fondled 
her  and  soothed  her  with  kindly  words.  But  Anninka 
was  restless  even  in  bed,  she  tossed  about  and  talked 
to  herself  in  her  sleep. 


4i8  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

Then  came  her  school  years  and  wanderings,  the 
first  empty,  the  second  painful.  But  even  as  a  no- 
madic actress,  Anninka  had  jealously  observed  the 
**holy  days,"  calHng  back  echoes  of  her  distant  past 
and  moods  of  childlike  devotion.  But  now  when  she 
saw  her  life__clearly  to  its  last  detail,  when  she  had 
cursed  her  life  and  when  it  became  obvious  that  the  tu- 
ture  promised  neither  repentance  nor  forgiveness,  when 
the  source  of  devotion  and  the  well-spring  of  tears 
had  dried  up,  the  effect  of  the  tale  of  the  Crucifixion 
upon  her  was  truly  overwhelming.  In  childhood  a 
gloomy  night  had  surrounded  her,  but  beyond  the 
darkness  she  had  sensed  the  presence  of  light.  Now 
nothing  but  interminable  everlasting  night  stretched 
ahead  endlessly.  She  neither  sighed,  nor  was  agi- 
tated, nor  even  thought.  She  merely  sank  into  a 
state  of  profound  torpor. 

Porfiry  Vladimirych,  too,  from  his  very  childhood, 
had  revered  the  "holy  days,"  but,  true  idol-worshipper 
that  he  was,  he  had  observed  merely  the  rites.  Every 
year  on  the  eve  of  Good  Friday  he  had  had  the  priest 
come  and  read  the  gospel,  had  sighed,  lifted  up  his 
arms,  touched  the  ground  with  his  forehead,  marked 
the  number  of  chapters  read  by  means  of  wax  balls, 
but  had  understood  nothing.  Not  until  now,  when  his 
conscience  was  awakened,  had  he  grasped  the  fact 
that  the  gospel  contained  the  story  of  how  Untruth 
visited  a  bloody  judgment  on  Truth. 

Of  course,  it  would  be  an  exaggeration  to  say  that 
this  discovery  led  him  to  definite  conclusions  about 
his  own  life,  yet  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  produced 
in  him  a  commotion  bordering  on  despair.  This 
state  of  mind  was  the  more  painful  the  more  uncon- 


THE  SETTLEMENT  419 

sciously  he  lived  through  the  past  which  was  the  source 
of  his  commotion. 

There    was    something    terrible    in    his    past,    he 
could  not  tell  exactly  what.     It  was  as  if  a  mountain-  A 
ous  mass,  hitherto  motionless  and  hidden  by  an  impene-   / 
trable  veil,  had  suddenly  moved  upon  him,  threatening   ^ 
every  moment  to  crush  him.     What  he   feared  was    ] 
that  he  might  not  be  crushed,  and  he  felt  he  must 
hasten  the  climax.     He  had  been  brooding  over  the 
idea  for  quite  some  time.     *'We  shall  have  communion 
on   Saturday,"    suddenly   flashed   through   his   mind. 
*Tt  would  be  well  to  visit  dear  mother's  grave  and 
take  leave  of  her." 

"Shall  we  walk  over  to  the  cemetery?"  he  turned  to 
Anninka  and  explained  his  idea  to  her. 

"Why,  if  you  wish,  we'll  drive  out  there." 

"No,   not  drive,   but "   started    Porfiry  Vladi- 

mirych,  but  halted  abruptly,  as  if  struck  by  the  thought 
that  Anninka  might  be  in  his  way. 

"I  have  sinned  against  my  dear  departed  mother. 
I,  I  was  the  cause  of  her  death!" 

The  thought  preyed  on  him,  and  the  desire  to  "take 
leave"  grew  stronger  in  his  heart,  to  take  leave  not 
by  mere  conventional  words,  but  by  throwing  himself 
on  her  grave  and  bursting  out  in  the  sobs  of  a  death 
agony. 

"So  you  say  no  one  is  to  be  blamed  for  Lubinka's 
death?"  he  suddenly  asked,  as  if  trying  to  cheer 
himself  up. 

At  first  Anninka  paid  no  attention  to  his  question. 
Two  or  three  minutes  later,  however,  she  felt  an  irre- 
sistible impulse  to  return  to  the  subject  of  Lubinka's 
death  and  torment  herself  with  it. 

"And  her  words  were,  'Drink,  you  street-walker,'  " 


420  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

he  said,  after  she  had  repeated  the  story  in  detail. 

"Yes,  her  very  words." 

"And  you  didn't  drink?'* 

"I  didn't.     I  am  ahve,  as  you  see.'* 

He  rose  and  paced  up  and  down  the  room  several 
times,  visibly  affected.  At  last  he  went  over  to 
Anninka  and  stroked  her  head. 

"My  poor,  poor  Anninka!"  he  said  softly. 

At  the  touch  of  his  hands  a  startling  change  took 
place  in  her.  At  first  she  was  amazed,  then  her  face 
began  to  work,  and  suddenly  a  violent  torrent  of 
hysterical,  inhuman  sobs  burst  from  her  chest. 

"Uncle,  are  you  good?  Tell  me,  are  you  good?" 
she  fairly  shrieked. 

In  a  broken  voice,  through  tears  and  sobs,  she  kept 
on  reiterating  her  query,  the  same  she  had  asked 
him  the  day  of  her  return  to  Golovliovo,  to  which  he 
had  given  such  an  absurd  reply. 

"You  are  good?  Tell  me,  answer  me,  are  you 
good?" 

"Did  you  hear  what  the  priest  read  at  the  evening 
service?"  he  said,  when  she  finally  grew  calm.  "Oh, 
what  sufferings  He  underwent !  Only  such  sufferings 
can And  yet  He  forgave,  forgave  forever !" 

He  resumed  his  pacing,  his  very  soul  rent  with  suf- 
fering and  his  face  covered  with  beads  of  perspiration. 

"He  pardoned  every  one,"  he  reflected  aloud.  "Not 
only  those  who  at  that  time  gave  Him  vinegar  mingled 
with  gall  to  drink,  but  also  those  who  are  doing  the 
same  thing  now  and  will  do  it  again  in  future  ages. 
What  a  horror !" 

Suddenly  he  stopped  before  her  and  said: 

"And  you — have  you  forgiven?" 


THE  SETTLEMENT  421 

Instead  of  replying  she  threw  herself  on  him  and 
clasped  him  firmly. 

"You  must  forgive  me,"  he  went  on.  "For  every 
one — on  your  own  account — and  for  those  who  are  no 
longer  here.  What  has  happened?"  he  cried,  looking 
round  distractedly.     "Where  are  they  all?" 

Utterly  shaken  and  exhausted,  they  retired  to  their 
rooms.  But  Porfiry  Vladimirych  could  not  sleep. 
He  tossed  in  his  bed,  all  the  while  trying  to  recall 
an  obligation  that  lay  on  him.  Suddenly  he  clearly 
remembered  the  words  that  had  flashed  through  his 
mind  about  two  hours  before,  "I  must  walk  to  mother's 
grave  and  take  leave  of  her." 

An  exhausting  restlessness  seized  his  being.  At 
last  he  got  up  and  donned  his  dressing-gown.  It  was 
still  dark,  and  unbroken  silence  reigned  in  the  house. 
For  a  while  Porfiry  Vladimirych  paced  back  and  forth 
in  the  room,  stopped  before  the  lighted  ikon  of  the 
Saviour  with  a  thorny  crown,  and  scanned  his  face. 
Finally  he  determined  upon  a  course  of  action,  perhaps 
half -unconsciously.  He  stole  into  the  antechamber 
and  opened  the  outer  door. 

Outside  a  March  blizzard  was  raging  and  blinded 
him  with  a  torrent  of  sleet.  Porfiry  Vladimirych 
struggled  along  the  road,  splashing  through  the  pud- 
dles, insensible  to  the  wind  and  the  snow.  Instinc- 
tively he  drew  together  the  skirts  of  his  dressing-gown. 

Early  next  morning  a  messenger  came  speeding  from 
the  village  near  the  churchyard  where  Arina  Petrovna 
was  buried.  He  brought  the  news  that  the  frozen 
body  of  the  Golovliovo  master  had  been  found  by 
the   roadside.     The   servants   rushed   into   Anninka's 


422  A  FAMILY  OF  NOBLEMEN 

room.  She  lay  in  her  bed  unconscious  in  delirium. 
A  messenger  was  hastily  dispatched  to  Nadezhda 
Ivanovna  Galkina  (daughter  of  Aunt  Varvara  Mik- 
hailovna),  who  ever  since  the  previous  autumn  had 
been  keeping  a  watchful  eye  on  everything  taking 
place  at  Golovliovo. 


The  End 


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